Quartz

What is Quartz?

Quartz is a mineral of many varieties and many colours, which are often of gemstone quality. However, quartz has other uses, as quartz sand (silica sand) can also be used in the manufacturing of glass and ceramics and for foundry moulds in metal casting. Additionally, crushed quartz can be used as an abrasive in sandpaper. But we’re not here to talk about the industrial uses of this beautiful mineral. Instead, let’s take a look at some of the most famous varieties of this diverse crystal.

Rose Quartz – Pink quartz has become widely popular for its purported spiritual and healing benefits. Whether you believe in them or not, this smoky pink gemstone looks beautiful. It comes as an opaque stone as if shrouded in mist but has varying levels of translucency/transparency. Its blushing hue is very soft.

Citrine – Citrine is a transparent, yellow variety of quartz, which ranges in colour from pale to golden yellow, honey, or a near brown colour, and may include rainbow inclusions. The name Citrine comes from the French word citron, meaning lemon. Owing to its colour, it is sometimes referred to as golden topaz. Much of the commercial citrine on the market is heat-treated amethyst or smoky quartz. It is also the thirteenth anniversary gemstone.

Chalcedony – Chalcedony is a cryptocrystalline variety of quartz. Cryptocrtalline is a rock texture made up of such minute crystals that its crystalline nature is only vaguely revealed, even when examined microscopically. There are many colours of chalcedony, which some of the most popular being blue, grey, white, and red.

Amethyst – Amethyst is possibly the world’s most popular purple gem, as well as being the birthstone of February. It is a purple variety of quartz that has been used for jewellery for over 2000 years. The colour of an amethyst can range from lavender to a deep purple, and can even have hints of red in it, making it slightly more pink. It is also the sixth anniversary gemstone.

Green Quartz – Prasiolite, also known as green quartz, green amethyst, or vermarine, is a green variety of quartz. It is quite a rare stone in nature and has varying levels of transparency.

Clear Quartz – Clear quartz is transparent and is also known as crystal quartz.

Smoky Quartz – Smoky quartz is a brownish grey, translucent variety of quartz that ranges in clarity. It can be almost completely transparent to almost completely opaque. When I travelled to Namibia in 2015 I got to see the largest Quartz crystal ever discovered a mixture of clear and smoky Quartz, house at the Crystal Gallery in Swakopmund,

Quartz Jewellery

Owing to the variety of colours quartz comes in, it is well suited to any sort of metal. Rose quart might look good with rose gold, bringing out its warm hues, while smoky quartz will look good with silver, platinum, or white gold, enhancing its grey quality. For more on ethical metals, click here.

Quartz is a relatively soft stone, ranking at only a 7 out of 10 on the Mohs scale of hardness. This makes it better suited to earrings, necklaces, and hairpins rather than bracelets or rings, which are more likely to bump into hard surfaces and be worn down over time. They would not make a good alternative for an engagement owing to this fact.

Quartz Cuts

Quartz is a stone that can feature many interesting cuts. As well as traditional cuts, it is not uncommon to see it carved into a sphere or some other shape for jewellery. A sphere is popular because, due to the spiritual associations with quartz, people believe it is the most harmonious shape possible for balancing energy. People also believe that the crystal’s shape affects its energy.

Quartz Value

Quartz makes a great alternative to some other stones for jewellery due to its affordability. Quartz, in its many varieties, tends to be relatively inexpensive.

How to Care for Quartz

As previously stated, quartz is only a seven out of ten on the Mohs hardness scale, so is relatively soft. It is therefore vital to protect your rock from bumps and scratches. Storing your jewellery in a pouch or box will help protect the jewellery. When cleaning quartz jewellery, use simple materials and non-caustic substances. Warm water and a soft, dry cloth will work for basic cleaning. Avoid soaking the quartz. If you need to remove stuck on grime, use a soft-bristled toothbrush and soap. An ultrasonic cleaner may cause damage to the stone, however, so it’s best to avoid using them.

Quartz Origin

While the exact origins of quartz is not known, it has been used as far back as by Sumerians, where it was cut and engraved to be used as cylinder seals and later as ring seals.

Where is Quartz Found?

Quartz is the second most abundant mineral in the Earth’s crust and its many varieties are found throughout the world.

Quartz Mining

Quartz is often extracted from the ground using open pit mining methods, which use backhoes and bulldozers. Open pit mining is a surface mining technique used to extract minerals from an open pit in the round. It is the most common mining method used and does not require extractive methods or tunnels.

Ethical Quartz

Being such an abundant mineral and also incredibly popular, quartz and all its varieties are both mined and traded worldwide. This means that it can be affected by the same human rights, working conditions, money laundering, corruption, and conflict funding issues that any gemstone or commodity might be and if you want to buy an ethically sourced gemstone you need to do a bit of re-search.

There are currently no independently audited vendors for ethically sourced quartz.

Quartz Meaning

Owing to spiritual beliefs ascribed to different varieties of quartz, it’s very hard to pinpoint a specific history for quartz’s meaning. Quartz has been carved, cut, and worn in various ways since ancient times. The ancient Greeks are known to have believed that quartz was ice that never melted because it was formed by the gods, thus calling it krustallos (resulting in the name crystal) meaning ice. As previously mentioned, Sumerians also used quartz. Even ancient Egyptians made beads, scarab figures, and other jewellery from many of the different quartz stones.

Rose quartz is one of the most famous varieties of quartz, with a history dating back to 7000 BC. Rose quartz beads have been found in an area formerly known as Mesopotamia. This tradition of using it for jewellery continued into the Assyrians in 800-600 BC, as well as being used to make cylinder seals, such as this Neo Assyrian seal.

The purported magical powers of quartz are by no means a new development. Ancient Roman, Egyptian, and Greek civilisations all used quartz as talismans. Romans used quartz as a seal to signify ownership, while ancient Egyptians believed the stone could prevent ageing.

Healing powers are believed to first be ascribed to rose quartz during the Middle Ages when medical practitioners started adding quartz to their healing potions. It was also worn by members of early cultures in North and South America, where it was referred to as the “love stone”. It was said to balance the emotions and to heal anger and disappointment.

Today rose quartz is known as the crystal of unconditional love and is often used for meditation when trying to heal emotionally.

Quartz Treatments

As mentioned before, citrine is heat-treated to change its colour, as are many other varieties of quartz. It is always the jeweller’s responsibility to disclose any treatments a stone may have been exposed to.