Quartz: Is it an Engagement Ring Material

Did you know that quartz is the second most abundant mineral in the earth’s crust? (feldspar is number one!) It is used regularly for jewellery, but it s also used for carvings, and broadcasting and timepieces! It has a vitreous lustre and transparent crystalline structure which is part of the trigonal crystal system, and they generally form into hexagonal crystals with a pyramidal tip. It scores a 7 on the Mohs scale of hardness, which means that sadly it is not an ideal choice for engagement rings, wedding rings or eternity rings as they are not as durable as your more traditional gemstone choices such as sapphires or diamonds. It can however be used in a variety of different pieces of jewellery such as pendants, earrings etc.. Quartz is often appreciated for its inclusions which give the stone a unique appearance! It has been a popular gemstone group since ancient times and has been worn to protect against bad luck and illness. Quartz is usually extracted from open pit mines, occasionally using small scale explosives to expose pockets of gemstone deposits. It is then usually carefully surface mined on a small scale with small scale equipment such as shovels, picks and hands!

Angel Hair Quartz

This is known by several names including rutillated quartz and ‘the blessing stone’. Its lovely name of course comes from the fine golden hair-like inclusions. These are actually titanium dioxide crystals, otherwise known as small rutile needles. They were believed to contain the hair of Venus, the Roman goddess of beauty! These are said to act as an aid in understanding and supposedly encourages creativity. They are mostly available tumbled, or cabochon cut and its main source is in Brazil.

Amethyst

Amethyst is the birthstone for February and ranges in colour from deep purple, mauve, violet, to pink. The ideal colour, which is a lovely deep purple with magenta tones is known as ‘Deep Russian’. Amethyst sourced in The Russian Urals tends to have red tones, whereas gemstones sourced in Canada are known to have more of a violet colour. They are a dichroic stone that will give off redish or blueish tinges at different angles. It’s name comes from the Ancient Greek word for intoxication and is still worn today to ward off drunkenness! In fact ancient Greeks and Romans actually had wine cups carved in amethyst to try and help when overdoing a bit of the tipple! Today amethyst is worn as it supposedly is a healing stone that helps you to keep you calm-headed! Until the 18th Century (when Brazilian deposits were found) it was considered along with diamonds, sapphires, rubies and emeralds to be one of the most valuable gemstones! They were regularly used for engagement rings and wedding rings. Amethyst has lepidochrosite inclusions, which as you can see give the appearance of an amazing zebra stripes / fingerprint / feather effect. These inclusions are actually a result of parallel liquid filled canal inclusions! When heated they will change to pale yellow, then to dark yellow or redish-brown, then to milky white! They are great for beading and cabochon cuts stones but are available in most cuts! Yey! They are usually sourced from alluvial deposits and geodes from areas such as Brazil, Russia, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Zambia, Namibia, Australia, India and, Austria… to name a few!