Quartz Species Part 4

Hi everyone,
I would like to continue the conversation we are having about the quartz family.  This is part four of a 5 part series of the macrocrystaline quartz family.  We will then take a look at the cryptocrystaline quartz family after that.  I hope everyone is having fun and learning new things along the way.  My goal is to have fun and educate people on the types of gems out there.  I have such a passion for learning about jewellery and gemstones.  In today's blog we will be discussing Rose Quartz, Aventurine, Prase and Blue Quartz.



star rose quartz gemstone



So let's talk rose quartz first.  As I have stated before all the information that I am using for this blog today is from the book Gemstones of the World by Walter Schumann.  The colour range of rose quartz is strong pink to pale pink and the colour streak is white.  The Mohs hardness is 7 and the density is 2.65.  There is no cleavage and the crystal system is trigonal, prisms mostly compact.  The chemical composition is silicon dioxide and the transparency is semitransparent to translucent.  Rose quartz is so named because of its pink colour often has a crackled appearance.  The colouring agent is titanium.  If there are rutile needles this causes a six-rayed star appearance when cut as a cabochon.  Rose quartz is found in Brazil, Madagascar, India, Mozambique, Namibia, Sri Lanka, and the United States.



Next on the list is Aventurine.  The colours for adventurine vary from green, red-brown, gold-brown and the colour streak is white.  The Mohs hardness is 7 and the density is 2.64-2.69.  There is no cleavage and the crystal system is trigonal, massive.  The chemical composition is silicon dioxide and the transparency is semitransparent to translucent.  The name of adventurine comes from Italian a ventura.  In around the year 1700 a type of glass was discovered and the same name was given to the stone that looked similar to the glass.  The look of adventurine is mostly a dark green with metallic glittering appearance which is caused by fuchsite(green mica) or red to gold brown which is cause by hematite leaves.  Aventurine is found in Brazil, India, Austria, Russia, and Tanzania. Aventurine is primarily used for ornamental objects and cabochons.

Prase is a leek green quartz who's name is from the Greek word prason.  It is usually classified as chalcedony and its colour is caused by chlorite inclusions.  Prase is usually found in Saxony, Germany, Finland, Austria, and Scotland.

Blue quartz is a turbid-blue quartz aggregate also known as quartzite.  The colour of blue quartz is caused by inclusions of crocidolite fibres.  This stone is usually found in Brazil, Austria, Scandinavia, South Africa and Virginia.  Primarily used for ornaments.

I hope everyone had a good time learning about the pink and blue quartz, the aventurine and prase today.  Please let me know what you are thinking about this series or about any of the other blogs written.  I would love to hear from you so please drop me a line.  Until next time.

The rare gem lady