Judging quality
Harder than howlite or marble and without howlite's grey veining. It will scratch glass.
Quartz
Snow Quartz
Dense opaque white quartz, sometimes marketed as quartzite or milky quartz, cut into spheres and slabs for a clean matte white that holds light softly.
Care
Hard and durable.
History & lore
White quartz pebbles were placed on graves across Ireland and Scotland for centuries, a practice recorded from the early medieval period.
Cultural history, recorded as tradition rather than as medical or scientific claim.
Common questions about Snow Quartz
- What is Snow Quartz?
- Dense opaque white quartz, sometimes marketed as quartzite or milky quartz, cut into spheres and slabs for a clean matte white that holds light softly.
- How hard is Snow Quartz and what is it made of?
- Snow 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 white, cream.
- Where does Snow Quartz come from?
- Notable localities for Snow Quartz include Brazil, India, Madagascar, USA.
- How do you tell good Snow Quartz from filler?
- Harder than howlite or marble and without howlite's grey veining. It will scratch glass.
- How do you care for Snow Quartz?
- Hard and durable.
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.