Topaz vs. Amethyst — What's the Difference?

Topaz ( TOH-paz) is a silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine with the chemical formula Al2SiO4(F, OH)2. It is used as a gemstone in jewelry and other adornments.

Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz. The name comes from the Koine Greek αμέθυστος amethystos from α- a-, "not" and μεθύσκω (Ancient Greek) methysko / μεθώ metho (Modern Greek), "intoxicate", a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness.

A precious stone, typically colourless, yellow, or pale blue, consisting of an aluminium silicate that contains fluorine.

A precious stone consisting of a violet or purple variety of quartz

A large tropical American hummingbird with a yellowish throat and a long tail.

A purple or violet form of transparent quartz used as a gemstone.

A colorless, blue, yellow, brown, or pink aluminum silicate mineral, often found in association with granitic rocks and valued as a gemstone.

A purple variety of corundum used as a gemstone.

Any of various yellow gemstones, especially a yellow variety of sapphire or corundum.

A moderate purple to grayish reddish purple.

A light yellow variety of quartz.

A transparent purple variety of quartz, used as a gemstone.

A silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine, usually tinted by impurities.

(uncountable) A purple colour.

An often clear, yellowish-brown gemstone cut from this.

(tincture) The tincture purpure, when emblazoning the arms of the English nobility.

A yellowish-brown color, like that of the gemstone.

Having a colour similar to that of the gemstone

A black Catholic soldier in the British Army.

A variety of crystallized quartz, of a purple or bluish violet color, of different shades. It is much used as a jeweler's stone.

Either of two species of very large hummingbirds in the genus Topaza.

A purple color in a nobleman's escutcheon, or coat of arms.

A ruby-topaz hummingbird, Chrysolampis mosquitus, the male of which has bright ruby feathers on the head and topaz on the throat

A transparent purple variety of quartz; used as a gemstone

Of a yellowish-brown color, like that of the gemstone.

Of a moderate purple color

A mineral occurring in rhombic prisms, generally yellowish and pellucid, also colorless, and of greenesh, bluish, or brownish shades. It sometimes occurs massive and opaque. It is a fluosilicate of alumina, and is used as a gem.

Either one of two species of large, brilliantly colored humming birds of the genus Topaza (Topaza pella or Topaza pyra), of South America and the West Indies.

A yellow quartz

A mineral (fluosilicate of aluminum) that occurs in crystals of various colors and is used as a gemstone

A light brown