Judging quality
Judge by depth and evenness of color and by translucency held to light. Very cheap material is often pale, chalky and crossed with white feldspar. Some rose quartz shows a faint six-rayed star when polished into a sphere.
Quartz
Rose Quartz
The soft pink massive quartz that almost everyone recognises. Most rose quartz occurs as cloudy vein material rather than crystals; true terminated rose quartz crystals, mainly from Brazil, are genuinely rare and collectible.
Care
Fades in strong sunlight over time. Rinse and dry; polished spheres benefit from an occasional soft buff.
History & lore
Rose quartz beads have been found in Mesopotamian jewellery dated to around 7000 BCE, among the oldest worked gem material known.
Cultural history, recorded as tradition rather than as medical or scientific claim.
Common questions about Rose Quartz
- What is Rose Quartz?
- The soft pink massive quartz that almost everyone recognises. Most rose quartz occurs as cloudy vein material rather than crystals; true terminated rose quartz crystals, mainly from Brazil, are genuinely rare and collectible.
- How hard is Rose Quartz and what is it made of?
- Rose Quartz is a Quartz-family mineral with the composition SiO2. It crystallizes in the trigonal system and rates 7 on the Mohs hardness scale. It occurs in pink, blush.
- Where does Rose Quartz come from?
- Notable localities for Rose Quartz include Madagascar, Brazil, South Dakota, USA, Namibia.
- How do you tell good Rose Quartz from filler?
- Judge by depth and evenness of color and by translucency held to light. Very cheap material is often pale, chalky and crossed with white feldspar. Some rose quartz shows a faint six-rayed star when polished into a sphere.
- How do you care for Rose Quartz?
- Fades in strong sunlight over time. Rinse and dry; polished spheres benefit from an occasional soft buff.
See it in person
Photographs only go so far
Both rooms are open six days a week, and there is always someone happy to pull pieces out of the case so you can compare them under the light.