Elie "Rubies"
Scottish Amethyst
Scottish Sapphire
Scottish Prehnite
OTHER SCOTTISH GEMSTONES
"Elie Ruby" is a traditional name given to the small but attractive gemstones found at Ruby Bay adjacent to Elie in Fife. Like ruby they are a vividly beautiful colour and almost as hard, but are in fact a variety of garnet known as a pyrope. Coloured by chromium, they have come from Elie's ancient volcanic pipe and have been collected by enthusiasts and mounted into jewellery since Victorian times.
Scottish Amethyst is found at locations all across the country, but in particular it occurs in abundance in Dumfries and Galloway.
Amethyst is a popular stone found in many pieces of Scottish jewellery, ornamenting Scottish pebble brooches, Luckenbooths and Skean Dhus. Its vivid purple colour contains a strong association with the colour of thistle flowers.
Scottish prehnite is a rare and unusual gemstone, yellow-green in colour, found in Stirling, Renfrew and Dumbarton.
It is a translucent stone, often cut into cabochons to show off the glowing pale green colour, and occasionally to show a "cat's eye" effect. Alistir Wood Tait is the only place you will find this gemstone set into jewellery.
Scottish Sapphire is rare and special indeed. It has a strong blue colour, almost green when viewed from different angles.
It is found at a Site of Special Scientific Interest near Loch Roag, a sea loch on the Isle of Lewis. It cannot be obtained from that site any more due to the protections put in place for SSSI, but we have been lucky enough to own some stones.