Ametrine is, as the name suggests, a hybrid between amethyst and citrine. Both of these gemstones are in the quartz family, and only differ in their colouring elements .
If amethyst is heated above 470 degrees, it turns into yellow quartz, citrine. Natural ametrine is caused by variations in temperature whilst the crystal is forming, creating attractive purple and yellow colour zoned gemstones, occasionally with orange zoning.
Although ametrine only appeared on the jewellery market in the 1970s, it has a rich history. Legend goes that a Spanish conquistador in the 17th century discovered the ametrine mine when he married a native princess called Anahi. He introduced the gem to Europeans and gifted specimens to the Spanish Queen. After this the mine was lost, and only rediscovered in the 1960s.
The only commercially mined source of ametrine is the Anahi mine in Southeastern Bolivia. However there are examples of artificially created ametrine in existence, perfected by Russian laboratories in the 1990s.
