ok, so i have come up with an early 50th birthday present to myself.......quite by chance........a nurse i work with is married to a german immigrant to came to this country by way of bolivia........don't even ask........and his 92 year old mother still lives there with 2 of his siblings......and at least once a year the couple go down for a few weeks to visit.......jackie has the most elegant maetrine jewelry that she had purchased there......for the non-gemstone savvy.....ametrine is a combination of amethyst and citrine.....both quartz-based gems....with the coloring dependent upon the amount of iron.....being a february person, i have been endowed with amethyst baubles over the years, ranging from juvenile to tacky.......and somehow skipping over elegant at every pass........so a few weeks ago, jackie asked if she could look for a piece of ametrine jewelry for me....if the price was right......i hesitated on having anyone pick out the right size ring....and so i authorized her to bring back an unset gem........emerald cut....if the price was right......and thus i now have in my posession a 7 carat ametrine that looks very similar to the one pictured....with no clue how much it will cost to make into a ring.......and this development begs more than one question.....as i already wear a ring on my right hand......a classic gold signet ring that i have worn so long that my initials...the original ones...have quite worn off........i wear this ring every day......mostly because it is simple....and not necessarily because the sorority sister who was my maid of honor gave it to me.......i am not so sure that i can just take it off and out it away after what.........27 years of continuous wear.........but back to my purchase......I have checked out similar stones online...and believe that my $50 investment in Bolivian ametrine is a reasonable move......i may just store the stone in it's little drawstring bag in the oak buffet in the front room.......i have told this tale before and i tell it again.....this buffet was in my grandmother crown's dining room.......and as long as i could remember until she passed away...there was a pouch of unset gems in the lefthand drawer...a ruby, a sapphire, and emerald.....each brought back by my uncle vernon, who spent most of wwII in india.......they stayed in the drawer despite the fact that he eventually gained a wife and 4 daughters.......who each might have treasured jewely made from those stones.......but with 3 stones and 5 females to please.....no wonder the gems languished int he buffet drawer.....no clue how they were finally distributed.......hopefully i will wear this gem.......for many years before it becomes an inheritance......