Purple Beads

Frequently asked questions

• What purple gemstone beads do you carry?

  Amethyst leads volume by a wide margin. Other purple stones include Fluorite (banded violet-to-clear), Kunzite (pale pink-violet), Charoite (banded purple from Siberia), Lepidolite (mica with lithium content giving a soft lavender), Sugilite (deep manganese-violet), and Ametrine (citrine-amethyst bi-color). Cacoxenite (a golden phantom inclusion in amethyst) appears as a distinct specialty stone.
• Is amethyst real or just dyed quartz?

  Most commercial amethyst is real — natural purple quartz colored by iron and irradiation in the host rock. Heat-treated amethyst becomes citrine (a separate product). Dyed quartz exists in the broader market but is uncommon at bead-trade scale because real amethyst is plentiful. Practical signal: real amethyst shows slight color zoning within larger beads; perfectly uniform purple in a smooth bead is worth a second look.
• Does amethyst fade in sunlight?

  Yes, with prolonged exposure. Amethyst can lose color over months to years of direct sun, especially in dry desert climates. Storage in indirect light and occasional rest in a dark drawer extends color life. Heat will accelerate fading — and at high enough temperatures, amethyst converts to citrine (the basis of most commercial citrine production).
• Which purple gemstones are birthstones?

  Amethyst is the February birthstone — a single-stone month with no widely recognized alternates. Tanzanite, the December birthstone, also appears in purple-blue ranges and is sometimes substituted in February designs.
• Is fluorite safe to handle and wear?

  Yes for normal wear. Fluorite has fluorine in its chemistry but is chemically stable at room temperature and inert to skin contact. The cautions to know: fluorite is Mohs 4, soft enough to scratch with a steel knife — keep it away from harder stones in storage. It cleaves easily on impact. Avoid heating or grinding fluorite without ventilation, since heated fluorite can release small amounts of hydrofluoric acid vapor.