Gahnite Prehnite amethyst is considered to be

amethyst is considered to be sacred to Buddha and rosaries are often fashioned from it

I have photographed the crystals under the microscope to better illustrate their quality

these crystals show an intense deep blood-red color when backlit

but when you find a complete "floater" twin like this

striated trigonal prism with an attractive pink hue at the base

Gahnite Prehnite amethyst is considered to beA rarely seen matrix Gahnite (a zinc bearing member of the Spinel Group) from Stratford in Alleghany County which was collected circa 1950s 1960s and comes from the collection of noted Italian author and mineral collector, Francesco Bedogn (#150). I've only seen one other specimen of this material, and this particular piece is bigger, with a better crystal on it. It features a sharp, well formed, very lustrous, slightly gemmy translucent deep blue