What is rose quartz? Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silicon and oxygen atoms.
Quartz exists in two forms, the normal α-quartz and the high-temperature β-quartz.
There are many different varieties of quartz, several of which are semi-precious gemstones. Since antiquity, varieties of quartz have been the most commonly used minerals in the making of jewelry and hardstone carvings.
Quartz is the mineral defining the value of 7 on the Mohs scale of hardness.
The word “quartz” is derived from the German word “Quarz”.
The Ancient Greeks referred to quartz as κρύσταλλος derived from the Ancient Greek κρύος (kruos) meaning “icy cold”. Because some philosopher believed the mineral to be a form of supercooled ice. Today, the term rock crystal is sometimes used as an alternative name for the purest form of quartz.
Pure quartz, traditionally called rock crystal or clear quartz, is colorless and transparent or translucent. And has often been used for hardstone carvings, such as the Lothair Crystal. Common colored varieties include citrine, rose quartz, amethyst, smoky quartz, milky quartz. These color differentiations arise from the presence of impurities which change the molecular orbitals, causing some electronic transitions to take place in the visible spectrum causing colors. Polymorphs of quartz include: α-quartz (low), β-quartz, tridymite, moganite, cristobalite, coesite, and stishovite.
Amethyst
Amethyst is a form of quartz that ranges from a bright vivid violet to dark or dull lavender shade. The world’s largest deposits of amethysts can be found in Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, Russia, France, Namibia and Morocco. Sometimes amethyst and citrine are found growing in the same crystal. It is then referred to as ametrine. An amethyst derives its color from traces of iron in its structure
Blue quartz
Blue quartz contains inclusions of fibrous magnesio-riebeckite or crocidolite
Dumortierite quartz
Inclusions of the mineral dumortierite within quartz pieces often result in silky-appearing splotches with a blue hue. Shades of purple or grey sometimes also are present. “Dumortierite quartz” (sometimes called “blue quartz”) will sometimes feature contrasting light and dark color zones across the material. “Blue quartz” is a minor gemstone
Citrine
Citrine is a variety of quartz whose color ranges from a pale yellow to brown due to ferric impurities. Natural citrines are rare; most commercial citrines are heat-treated amethysts or smoky quartzes. However, a heat-treated amethyst will have small lines in the crystal, as opposed to a natural citrine’s cloudy or smoky appearance. It is nearly impossible to differentiate between cut citrine and yellow topaz visually. But they differ in hardness. Brazil is the leading producer of citrine. With much of its production coming from the state of Rio Grande do Sul.
Milky quartz
Milky quartz is the most common variety of crystalline quartz. The white color is caused by minute fluid inclusions of gas, liquid, or both, trapped during crystal formation
Rose quartz
Rose quartz is a type of quartz which exhibits a pale pink to rose red hue. The color is usually considered as due to trace amounts of titanium, iron, or manganese, in the material. Additionally, there is a rare type of pink quartz, With color that is thought to be caused by trace amounts of phosphate or aluminium. The color in crystals is apparently photosensitive and subject to fading.
One is found in translucent masses made of intergrown anhedral crystals. It occurs in different hues of pink, sometimes bluish, sometimes more reddish. Irradiation may cause the formation of smoky quartz color centers and add a gray tone.
Rose quartz is always showing a hazy to translucent character, Due to microscopic fibrous inclusions of a pink borosilicate mineral…
Rose quartz from some localities shows asterism when cut as spheres or cabochons, Much like that seen in certain sapphires. It is sometimes called star rose quartz. The six-rayed star is caused by reflections of the light from embedded fibers that intersect at an angle of 60°. The star’s position depends both on the location of the light source and the position of the observer
Rose quartz is commonly found in the quartz cores of pegmatites and is believed to form at high temperatures. But it has also been found in hydrothermal veins.
The other variety occurs in well-formed crystals of similar color. Because of the substantial differences in the physical properties and causes of color it has been suggested to give the variety of pink-colored quartz that forms crystals the name “pink quartz”
Smoky quartz is a gray, translucent version of quartz. It ranges in clarity from almost complete transparency to a brownish-gray crystal that is almost opaque. Some can also be black. The translucency results from natural irradiation acting on minute traces of aluminum in the crystal structure.
Prasiolite, also known as vermarine, is a variety of quartz that is green in color. Since 1950, almost all natural prasiolite has come from a small Brazilian mine. But it is also seen in Lower Silesia in Poland. Naturally occurring prasiolite is also found in the Thunder Bay area of Canada. It is a rare mineral in nature; most green quartz is heat-treated amethyst.
A synthetic quartz crystal grown by the hydrothermal method, about 19 cm long and weighing about 127 grams
Not all varieties of quartz are naturally occurring. Some clear quartz crystals can be treated using heat or gamma-irradiation to induce color where it would not otherwise have occurred naturally.
Prasiolite, an olive colored material, is produced by heat treatment; natural prasiolite has also been observed in Lower Silesia in Poland. Although citrine occurs naturally, the majority is the result of heat-treating amethyst or smoky quartz.
Because natural quartz is often twinned, synthetic quartz is produced for use in industry. Large, flawless, single crystals are synthesized in an autoclave via the hydrothermal process.
Like other crystals, quartz may be coated with metal vapors to give it an attractive sheen.
Almost all the industrial demand for quartz crystal (used primarily in electronics) is met with synthetic quartz produced by the hydrothermal process. Synthetic crystals are less prized for use as gemstones and are rejected by practitioners of crystal healing. This has increased the demand for natural quartz crystal, Which is now often mined in developing countries using primitive mining methods, sometimes involving child labor.
Crystal healing is a pseudoscientific alternative medicine technique that uses semiprecious stones and crystals such as quartz, amethyst or opals. Adherents of the technique claim that these have healing powers. Although there is no scientific basis for this claim. Practitioners of crystal healing believe they can boost low energy, prevent bad energy, release blocked energy, and transform the aura of the body.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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