Minerals: Amethyst
Locality: Amatitlán, Eduardo Neri Municipality, Guerrero, Mexico
Dimensions: 71mm x 20mm x 14mm
Weight: 17.3g

This Guerrero amethyst has incredible clarity throughout the body of the crystal, which means the colour photographs much lighter than it appears in person. There’s still lovely amethyst saturation running through the interior, but the transparency allows so much light through that the colour shows up quite softly in photographs.

The form is beautifully developed, with multiple parallel crystals rising together and finishing in clear terminations. There’s natural etching around the base, and tucked amongst that etched growth are several small clusters of very fine needle quartz, almost forming little balls of delicate crystallisation.

The clarity really the internal growth to be appreciated, while the etched base and needle quartz give the lower section a completely different level of detail.

Guerrero amethyst is one of the great classic amethyst localities, and one of the most distinctive expressions of amethyst there is. When we talk about a “classic” locality in the mineral world, we refer to specimens that have a long history, are instantly recognisable and have distinctive aesthetic, and material that collectors have actively sought out for a long time. Other examples include amethyst from Goboboseb in Namibia, Veracruz in Mexico, Thunder Bay in Canada and Four Peaks in Arizona, which are all highly collectible and recognisable in their own right.

Guerrero has a distinctive habit. The crystals form as long, tapered points that feature rich, concentrated colour that can form in concentrated phantoms, even when crystals feature strong transparency. They also frequently feature parallel growth, giving them a very recognisable silhouette and adding extra detail to appreciate.

The history of Guerrero amethyst is fascinating. Mining was most active throughout the 1970s, 80s and 90s, there's never really been a single mine. The amethyst occurs throughout a large area around Amatitlán, where multiple small veins and pockets were worked through shallow cuts and hand dug workings. Miners would follow one vein until it stopped producing, then move on to search for another pocket.

That also means Guerrero crystals aren't strictly uniform, and there are beautiful variation of colour, zoning, transparency and crystal form. Material from one pocket can be rather different from another, while still being unmistakably Guerrero.

By the early 2000s material became much harder to access, and mining in Guerrero has also been heavily affected by cartel activity and the increasing danger of working in the region. That combination has made good old Guerrero material increasingly difficult to source today.

This particular parcel has its own wonderful history. The specimens had been sitting untouched in a garage for close to 50 years and were offered to us still containing the original dirt and clay from mining. We received them exactly like that and have cleaned every piece ourselves.

It’s incredibly exciting to be able to offer genuine old Guerrero amethyst in smaller, accessible specimens. These have all the history and locality character that make Guerrero so desirable, without the price tags attached to the large museum scale examples for which the locality is famous.