Dress Jewellery

So summer is well underway.  Wedding season, BBQs and lots of parties to attend, so what better to talk about than dress jewellery that you could match with several outfits for many occasions throughout this season. A stone that springs to mind is the wonderful rock crystal. This beautiful stone in dress jewellery is sure to enhance any outfit worn throughout the summer.

Rock crystal makes up to around 12% of the earth’s crust which is found in the variety of igneous and metamorphic rocks. All quartz tend to be separated into the two main groups which is based on the overall size of the grains produced. The two different crystalline are the Microcrystalline quartz which can be seen with the naked eye. But with the other type the cryptocrystalline is so small a high magnification is needed. Under these types of quartz amethyst, amerterine, catseye quartz, citrine, phantom quartz, rock crystal, rose quartz, rutilated quartz, smokey quartz, and strawberry quartz are evident. A rare form of quartz also seen within this umbrella is blue adventurine quartz, and green adventurine quartz, these must not be mistaken for a mineral over a rock.

Rock crystal is formerly known as the colour form of quartz this quartz has a hardness of 7, due to the quartz hardness it makes it a perfect stone to be used within jewellery. When sourcing a good rock crystal the look and quality it should have is a similar reflection shown in water, if this is clear with no visible inclusions this becomes a very rare and valuable piece, due to the large availability and cost of these beautiful stones these are used hugely as practice material for carvers.

Occurrence

Rock crystal is commonly sourced in Cumberland, Switzerland, Brazil and Madagascar, With the finer material evident in the hot springs of Arkansas, and the largest materials being found in places such as brazil have a huge weight of 44 tones.

Rock crystals occurrence is in the veins of the quartz when the mineral crystallizes inside several cavities, rock crystal is formed as a secondary crystal. The water traces or the carbon dioxide traces will determine the opaqueness of this mineral, if there is a large amount of this evident then the crystal becomes a milky quartz.

The versatility shown with quartz when etched patterns are found within this stone, the patterns are lines and raised details. If these are paired with internal cavities arrange in a geometric form then these can be referred to as skeletal or elestial quartz. The beauty of this crystal is the surrounding minerals evident which can form interesting inclusions within the stone, rutilated quartz, tourmalated quartz, cats-eye quartz and strawberry quartz is to name a few of these beautiful stones. Strawberry quartz is a beautiful and unusual quartz which displays wonderful traces of hematite.

Historical information:

The term Rock crystal originally derives from the Greek term “Krystallos” meaning ice, the quatz was found in caves near Olympus. The major sources of this colourless quartz are found in Brazil and Madagascar with secondary deposits found in such places as Arankas and New York.

This beautiful clear quartz has been around for thousands of years and has contributed to various ornamental religious object throughout the years alongside jewellery. This particular stone has been said to diagnose diseases and healing. The main use of rock crystal has been the use of chandeliers and even used as imitation diamonds many years ago, although nowadays the majority tend to be made out of glass due to the rareness of such large pieces.

In the jewellery industry rock crystal is found within a lot of high-end jewellery/designer jewellery. Jewellers from the times of around the mid 20th century used rock crystal quiet liberally within their work. Some very well known and photographed pieces include those related to the Edwardian, Art Noveau, and Art Deco era’s and are now collection pieces found in many museums.

So, which of rock crystal colour will you feature in your dress jewellery and enhance your summer style?