Rare banded amethyst. Use it as a decorative object on a desk, a console table, a coffee table, or a bookshelf. It works hardest where it can be seen from more than one side, so give it a corner rather than a wall, and set it where light crosses the face during the day. Against dark wood or brass the lilac lifts. Against white it goes quiet. It needs about a hand's width of clear space around it; crowd it and the band stops reading.

The dark line running the rim went in first. Clay lined that cavity before any silica arrived, and the quartz crystallized against it from the outside in. Most geodes get trimmed until the band is barely there. On this one it wraps the whole edge and hooks at the top, and it is the best thing about the piece.

Inside, the druzy runs pale. Lilac more than purple, dense and even across the face, the points small and tight rather than large and showy. It stands on its own cut base at four to five inches. It holds a shelf without asking for the room.

Amethyst is quartz, which means it is hard. Seven on the Mohs scale, harder than a steel blade, so dust and handling will not mark it and it needs no sealing or oiling. The druzy scatters light rather than reflecting it, which is why the face reads matte from one angle and lit from another. The one thing that will hurt it is sun. Prolonged UV pulls the purple out and does not put it back.

LORE

Amethyst sat in bishops' rings for most of a millennium, the stone of office in the Western church. Before that the Greeks called it amethystos, not drunken, and wore it against excess. Modern crystal practice treats it as a stone of steadiness and keeps it where work gets done. We make no claims about what a rock does to a person. We are telling you what has been said about this one for three thousand years, because that history came with it.

STRATA · VEIN · WEIGHT

STRATA — A gas cavity in volcanic rock, clay-lined, then filled inward with quartz over geologic time. Rind and band left intact.
VEIN — Pale lilac druzy across the face, ringed by a dark clay band and a white quartz margin. The photograph is a guide to color, not a contract.
WEIGHT — 1.5 lbs. Approx. 4–5" high × 3" wide.

DETAILS

• Natural amethyst geode, standing on a cut base
• Pale lilac druzy face with a dark banded rim and white quartz margin
• Approx. 4–5" high × 3" wide
• Weight: 1.5 lbs
  
• One of one. No two geodes open the same.
• Care: dust with a dry brush. Keep out of sustained direct sun; amethyst fades under prolonged UV.

IN THE BOX

• Cotton tote
• Hand-stamped story card
• Catalog card

SAÉA — shelter · refugio · پناه
Made by earth. Shaped by hand. Kept by you.

SAÉA Stones

Onyx is a natural stone, stunning but not bulletproof. Wipe with a soft, dry cloth. Avoid harsh detergents. Read more here.

Each piece is sealed with food-grade beeswax. Refresh every 6 to 12 months by warming a small amount of oil or wax into the surface, then buffing gently with a soft cloth.

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30-day returns on unused, undamaged pieces. Email us at hello@saeadesigns.com and we will send a return label.

SAÉA is a small design studio in San Diego, California.

Each piece begins as raw onyx in the mountains of Balochistan, hand-carved by artisans, then finished, photographed, and shipped from San DIego, California.

Every SAÉA Jewel is made to order in our San Diego studio.