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| Home > Gemstones > Mineral Gemstones > Quartz
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| | Quartz Mineral Gemstones
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 Quartz has hardness of 7 Mohs. It is formed of silicon dioxide or silica and its specific gravity is 2.65.
Beautiful quartz, the "rock crystal" used in ancient times to make crystal balls and bowls, is today more often seen set in gold jewelry. Despite the popularity of quartz gems like amethyst, citrine, ametrine, rose quartz, onyx, agates, chrysoprase, rutilated quartz, and other quartz gemstone varieties, many people in the jewelry industry take quartz for granted because of its affordable price.
Throughout history, quartz has been the common chameleon of gemstones, standing in for more expensive gemstones ranging from diamond to jade. But the incredible variety of quartz is now beginning to be appreciated for its own sake.
The following are the coarsely crystalline varieties of silica-
Rock crystal: Colorless
Amethyst: Purple
Citrine: Yellow to amber
Morion: Black
Smoky quartz or cairngorm: smoky gray to brown
Rose quartz: Translucent pink
Green quartz or praziolite: Green
Cryptocrystalline varieties of silica-
Chalcedony and Jasper (variable)
Agate: Bulls eye agate, Iris or fire agate, Onyx, Sardonyx. Bloodstone or heliotrope. Carnelian. Chrysoprase. Moss agate. Plasma. Prase. Sard. Jasper.
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