Judging quality
The strongest pieces balance clean transparent quartz against sharply defined black needles with visible triangular cross-sections, rather than smeared grey inclusions.
Quartz
Tourmalinated Quartz
Clear quartz shot through with black schorl tourmaline, producing graphic ink-on-glass patterns. Slabs and spheres show the composition best.
Care
Rinse and dry. Tourmaline needles at the surface can chip if knocked.
History & lore
Prized in Brazilian lapidary work since the nineteenth century for its natural calligraphic effect.
Cultural history, recorded as tradition rather than as medical or scientific claim.
Common questions about Tourmalinated Quartz
- What is Tourmalinated Quartz?
- Clear quartz shot through with black schorl tourmaline, producing graphic ink-on-glass patterns. Slabs and spheres show the composition best.
- How hard is Tourmalinated Quartz and what is it made of?
- Tourmalinated Quartz is a Quartz-family mineral with the composition SiO2 with schorl. It crystallizes in the trigonal system and rates 7 on the Mohs hardness scale. It occurs in colorless, black.
- Where does Tourmalinated Quartz come from?
- Notable localities for Tourmalinated Quartz include Brazil, Madagascar, Namibia.
- How do you tell good Tourmalinated Quartz from filler?
- The strongest pieces balance clean transparent quartz against sharply defined black needles with visible triangular cross-sections, rather than smeared grey inclusions.
- How do you care for Tourmalinated Quartz?
- Rinse and dry. Tourmaline needles at the surface can chip if knocked.
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.