Every DesigNA piece ends the same way, whoever wears it. Find the clasp, and the last stone before it is purple. That stone is amethyst, and it closes every necklace and bracelet we make, whoever the DNA belongs to. People have treasured amethyst jewellery for centuries. On a DesigNA strand, though, the purple stone has a fixed job as well as a long history. So this post looks at the stone, what people have believed about it, and why your DNA always puts it last.
A royal stone that became affordable
Amethyst is purple quartz. Traces of iron in the crystal give it the colour, as the GIA's guide to amethyst explains. For much of history it ranked alongside ruby in value, and royalty wore it. Then large deposits came to light, supply rose, and the price fell. Today amethyst costs far less than it once did, which has done nothing to dim its colour.
Ours is also natural, never lab grown or imitation, and it comes from established UK suppliers. Because it is quartz, amethyst is a close relative of citrine, the yellow stone that usually opens your strand.
What amethyst means
Tradition links amethyst with calm and clarity. People have long worn it as a stone for a clear head and a settled mind. We share that as a belief, not a fact, because a stone cannot settle your mind for you. However, calm and clarity suit a piece built on a fact about you that never changes.
Amethyst jewellery with a job to do
On a DesigNA piece, amethyst is a marker first.
First, a UK laboratory with over 25 years in genetic testing reads 23 identity markers from your cheek swab. The machine tags those markers in five fluorescent dye colours so it can tell them apart. Those colours are blue, green, yellow, red and purple. Each marker has two values, one from each parent. Then every value becomes a stone in that dye's colour, placed along the strand by fragment size, from the smallest to the largest. The science page walks through the process.
So every value the machine reads in the purple dye channel becomes an amethyst. Amethyst takes the purple role on every piece that carries stones. It sits at 4mm on necklaces and twisted bracelets, and at 2mm on the fine spider and clasp bracelets. The semi precious stones page shows the full palette.
Why amethyst closes the strand
The order of the stones follows fragment size, from the smallest to the largest. The machine measures that size in base pairs, and the strand runs from the extender chain towards the clasp. In the kit our laboratory uses, Penta D carries the largest fragment, and the machine reads Penta D in the purple channel. Therefore the last stone on every DesigNA piece is an amethyst, at the clasp end, right beside the oval DesigNA tag.
This is a kit fact, true for every customer, and only the values differ. Your two Penta D values belong to you alone, and so does their exact position. However, the colour that closes the strand never changes. We wrote a whole post on it: why the last stone is always amethyst. At the other end, citrine usually opens the strand, because D2S441 almost always carries the smallest fragment and sits in the yellow channel.
The Twisted Pearl DNA Profile Bracelet
Amethyst looks its best against pearl. So we end on the Twisted Pearl DNA Profile Bracelet, £229. Two strands of genuine 5mm freshwater pearls wind into a rope. Your markers sit along it as 4mm natural stones, with a 925 silver spacer either side of each stone. Amethyst marks every purple dye value and closes the piece at the clasp end, with lapis lazuli, garnet, citrine and amazonite for the rest. A single silver lobster clasp and extender chain finish it, with the oval DesigNA tag at the clasp end. It arrives in the black DesigNA box with your signed certificate on top, free by UK tracked post. We make it in 2 to 3 weeks from the day the laboratory has your swab. Keep perfume and chlorine away from the pearls, and clean the piece with warm water and a soft cloth.
Frequently asked questions
Is amethyst a real gemstone?
Yes. Amethyst is natural purple quartz, and ours comes from established UK suppliers. Also, we never use lab grown or imitation stones.
Why is the last stone on my piece purple?
Because of Penta D. In the kit our laboratory uses, that marker carries the largest fragment, and the machine reads it in the purple channel. The strand runs from the smallest fragment to the largest. So an amethyst always sits last, at the clasp end.
Does every piece end with amethyst?
Every piece that carries stones does, whoever the DNA belongs to. Pattern and "and gold" pieces, though, carry gold filled spheres at every position instead, so on those the last position is a sphere.
How many amethysts will my piece have?
That depends on your DNA. Every value the machine reads in the purple dye channel becomes an amethyst, so the number and the positions follow your own profile. Penta D always comes last.
How do I care for amethyst jewellery?
Warm water and a soft cloth. Never use an ultrasonic cleaner, keep perfume and chlorine away from any pearls, and store the piece flat in its box.
Ready to see your own pattern end in purple? Explore the full DesigNA collection.
Your genetic code, profiled from a simple cheek swab and handcrafted into the exact DesigNA necklace. No two are ever the same.
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