Beautiful amethyst heart with a great agate/rock crystal rim

An amethyst heart from Brazil with a combined agate-rock crystal double rim. Three mineral phases in a heart-cut geometry, from the outer agate edge over a narrow rock crystal seam to the violet amethyst core.

The combined double rim documents a three-phase mineralization stratigraphy. First agate microcrystals, then rock crystal tips, finally the main amethyst phase in the interior.

Amethyst crystallizes in the volcanic geodes of the Serra Geral Basalt Formation. The violet coloration is caused by iron substitutions in the quartz lattice under natural radiation.

Brazilian amethyst deposits in Rio Grande do Sul produce material for such compact heart cuts. The workshops in the region have specialized in jewelry processing for decades.

Material selection prioritizes pieces with uniform coloration over the full cut volume. Premium jewelry material is manually selected from the raw stock. The combination of three mineral phases in a heart shape is a collector's feature determined by the find.