shop what's new gem journeys
wishlists my shopping bag
 

ametrine - dowry for a princess
According to legend, Don Luis Felipe entered Ayoreo territory on the shores of what is today known as Lake Mandior� (Lagoa Mandiore') -- an area that at that time was the domain of the Ayoreo peoples -- located on the border of Brazil and Bolivia.
Legend also has it that Princess Anahi was buried near the major ametrine deposits mined today.
Relatively unknown to consumers before the Anahi mine set up production in the late 1970's, some small deposits were worked by the Ayoreans from the community of Rincon del Tigre, some 80 kilometers from Anah�. A few of these gems were sold to Brazilian gem traders who showed them at international gem fairs, but they could not explain the stone's origin.
In an area with a high density of haemagogus mosquitoes, in 1981, Rincon del Tigre accounted for approximately 50% of Bolivia's 150 cases of the famous mosquito-borne disease that nearly shut down construction of the Panama Canal -- yellow fever. The last confirmed outbreak had been in 1940.
Among all the countries of South America, Bolivia has the highest percentage of indigenous people.
Former Ayoreo territory covers a sizable area where the borders of Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay meet.
Ayoreo declaration, 1980
"Our misery began when the whites invaded our land...they invaded our lands and bought them. How can land be bought and sold? We don't understand this idea. Every inch of this land is sacred to the Ayoreo."
There are only ,3,000 Ayoreos left in Paraguay and 1,500 in Bolivia.
 dowry for a princess
Being such a new stone, ametrine has very little 'history,' as such -- but possessing such beauty, a lovely legend has grown around the story of its European 'discovery.'

lake mandiore
photo: anahi mine; border of brazil & bolivia

Ametrine supposedly first came to the world's attention when a sixteenth-century Spanish conquistadore', Don Luis Felipe de Urriola y Goit�a, in the area to explore and exploit, returned to Spain with a sample of the stone.
Passing on his gifts to his sponsor, the Spanish queen, he introduced the gemstone to Europe for the first time. How he came across the stone in the New World is the basis for a captivating legend.
princess anahi's gift
Falling in love with the beautiful Princess Anahi from Bolivia's Ayoreos tribe, Don Luis Felipe received an ametrine mine as a dowry when they married. Initially, he paid little attention to the gem as his interest, like all good Spanish explorers, was focused on finding gold and silver.

fanciful depiction of princess anahi

Eventually, Don Luis Felipe gave up his quest for precious metals and began planning his journey back to Spain. A combination of curiosity to see the "homeland" her husband talked about so frequently and Princess Anahi's love for him created a passionate desire in her to accompany him when he left.

However, when the tribe learned of their dear Princess Anahi's plans, they were devastated. In a gruesome resolution, they decided to sacrifice her and bury her body at the foot of the same mountain where the stones could be found.

Mortally wounded, Princess Anah� spent the last minutes of her life in the arms of her beloved Don Luis Felipe. Just before she expired, she placed something in her husband's palm, closing his hand. Once the princess breathed no more, Don Luis Felipe opened his hand and found a perfect bi-color gold and amethyst colored gemstone.

Upon reflection, he understood that the stone represented Anah�'s divided heart: on the one hand, she loved her tribe and wanted to live with them; on the other hand, her heart belonged to her husband and she would willingly follow him wherever he went.
As charming as the tale is, the indigenous Ayoreo, whose population has been decimated by disease, poverty and other ailments related to conquest -- and who have lost nearly all of their former territories and therefore their traditional lifestyle -- probably have a somewhat different take on the story.