The AMN-03 amethyst gem stone image from Directstones is both gorgeous and informative. When it comes to purple amethyst stones, you can expect to see three color shades. The above image shows a deep purple amethyst gem on the left. On the right side is a medium purple amethyst gem. Gem providers refer to the darker shades of purple amethyst stones as African amethyst. They name the medium to lighter purple amethyst stones Brazilian amethyst. In most cases such names would imply that the gems were mined in those locations but this is not so when it comes to Amethyst stones. The reference here is to the purple color shade of the stone and not the mining location. We mentioned three shades of purple for amethyst, so let us talk about the third shade. There is a very pale purple color of amethyst too. These pale purple stones are cheaper than the medium and darker color shades and generally used to produce low quality mass produced junk jewels. You should stay away from the very pale purple amethyst by all means. See more amethyst stones and related information at http://www.amethyst.directstones.com/amethyst-gemstone-01.htm