Pink quartz crystal particularly sought after by collectors

The name pink or rose quartz first appeared in literature around 1800 and refers to the light pink color. This classic gemstone, which has been popular since ancient times, was previously known as pink amethyst and later as rose-red milky quartz.

In contrast to coarse or macrocrystalline quartz, such as rock crystal, smoky quartz or amethyst, pink quartz is a grainy, coarse quartz, such as aventurine quartz or jasper. A rarity are pink quartz crystals, which are sometimes found in Brazil or Madagascar and are highly sought after by collectors. Pink quartz can be classified into two clearly different forms depending on its appearance and texture. On the one hand, the Brazil type (pale pink to pink, often mottled and cracked, translucent to opaque) and the Madagascar type (beautiful, stronger pink, almost transparent, because pink quartz is always a little milky; can serve as an identification mark).

The color of pink quartz is created by finely distributed rutile needles (rutile is titanium oxide, size about 1/1000 mm or less), probably also by small additions of manganese (responsible, among other things, for the pink color of the beryl variety morganite or kunzite, a spodumene). It is not very rare that the rutile needles are installed into the pink quartz in accordance with the trimetric crystal system. With a muggle, curved cut and stronger point lighting, it then creates an asterism or star formation, which is usually only faintly visible. Star pink quartz comes in cut ball form, but even if you spin a pink quartz necklace under strong light, you will often see a six-pointed star. If you are interested in such a star, please contact Ruppenthal, because we want to share with you what incomparable nature has created!

Chemical composition:

• Crystal system: trimetric (trigonal)
• Hardness: 7
• Specific. Weight: 2.6-2.7, mostly 2.65
• Light refraction: 1.53-1.55
• Birefringence: 0.006-0.010
• Color: pale pink, light pink to deep pink
• Luster: vitreous luster, on fracture surfaces the typical greasy luster of quartz
• Location: Brazil, Madagascar, Namibia, USA, Urals, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), India, Mozambique, Austria; The occurrence of ground corn in the Bavarian Forest and pastures in the Upper Palatinate unfortunately only have a historical significance

Since pink quartz, as a coarse rock, is mined in larger pieces of up to over a ton, it can also be processed for artistic purposes (e.g. ground into wonderfully thin-walled pink quartz bowls or engraved for animal figures). As a hard, non-splitting stone, pink quartz can be processed without any major problems.

However, since quartz is also brittle, you should not exert too much pressure on thinly ground round stones. At temperatures above 575°C the color disappears completely.

Pink quartz has always been considered a gentle and tender stone. It corresponds to people’s romantic feelings and is therefore often the stone of lovers. But it is also said to promote the imagination, and it is also the stone for the month of January and the zodiac Taurus. The Roman scholar Pliny associated it with the goddess of love and called it the eyelid of Venus.