Why is amethyst less valuable than sapphires, diamonds or rubies?
In the past, precious stones refered to Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire & Emerald. Semi-precious refered to all other gemstones. Although these terms are still used by consumers and some jewelers, Gemologists do not differentiate gemstones along the “precious” “semi-precious” line because it is grossly inaccurate. For instance, tourmalines are usually considered “semi-precious”. However, a fine Paraiba tourmaline is more expensive than many rubies and sapphires. In this day and age, the “precious” “semi-precious” classification is meaningless. To answer your question: There is no difference. ALL gemstones are precious. Amethyst is generally more expensive than blue Topaz because of a higher market demand for it. Both are not particularly rare, although Amethyst is possibly the rarer material. Prices differ because of a variety of factors. For instance, rarity, market demand, marketing, treatments available and accepted, fashion etc. Rarity on its own does not guarantee that a gemstone will be
