They Found 5,000 Pounds of Amethyst Crystals
Five thousand pounds of amethyst sounds like a lot but it isn’t. Five thousand pounds would fill five strong pickup trucks, that’s a lot. Gem cutters will tell anyone who will listen that there is a high degree of selectivity every finished gem has passed through.
First in amethyst nature has placed most the color in the pointy tip of the crystal as you follow the crystal form to its base, thecolor gets lighter and lighter ‘till the color vanishes. Just the color shift alone would change five pickup trucks to one truck. Next gems are being cut for people and we are sensitive to tons of colors, too dark or too light. We want an ideal color in the middle. Then there is the specific color. People want pure purple not grayed or brown-purple. They want pure. Then people want clear gems. A gem to the naked eye that allows the light to pass through without stopping at an inclusion. One pickup truck becomes two five-gallon pails of choice clear gem cutting crystals.
Finally, we arrive at human nature. Gem cutters all seem to be taken with a silent competition to cut the biggest gem possible. They want to cut record setting gems. The Sweden amethyst discovery cut a lot of big beautiful gems… gems bigger than what is typically worn in jewelry. Cutters are far less likely to cut 7×5, 8×6, or 9x7mm oval gems which is what works best in beautiful jewelry. Cutters want to cut gems 3 times larger than the most popular sizes.
At the time of the music camp discovery, we made a lot of jewelry one at a time. We gave up trying to ever market the Maine amethyst category because we so rarely ever had more than one or two gems of a given popular size. So we spent 35 years just collecting Maine amethyst.
What you see in these Maine amethyst necklaces are rare gems that were collected over a long period of time. I would love to make 20 Ice Princess Necklaces like we do with other gems, we simply can’t. If you feel tempted, don’t wait because the Maine amethyst gem we have today in two months, six months, or even a year may never be available again.
Why We Love This Design.
The Ice Princess is lacy, delicate and looks awesome when worn. The amethyst is riveting. Its color glows. And because it is a Maine gem you will own almost a one-of-a-kind.
