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Imitation Strawberry Quartz:
Strawberry quartz is very popular and abundant, however, material with a superb color and appearance is rare. Nature does not provide enough superb strawberry quartz to meet the demand. So, numerous people have figured out how to make materials that look just like strawberry quartz. The most common imitation is made by melting glass and…
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Strawberry Quartz Quality Factors:
The most desirable pieces of strawberry quartz have a distinctly pink or red color without traces of other hues. Their color is uniform across the face of the gem. The inclusions should be large enough to be eye-visible but not so large that surface-reaching inclusions leave a noticeable pit on the surface of the gem.…
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Single-Crystal and Granular Quartz:
Most specimens of strawberry quartz consist of single quartz crystals with included red minerals. However, some specimens consist of granular quartz in the form of quartzite with inclusions of lepidolite or alurgite mica. Quartzite is a metamorphic rock that forms when a sandstone is subjected to heat and pressure. This type of strawberry quartz is often aventurescent…
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Uses of Strawberry Quartz:
The most popular use of strawberry quartz is in jewelry. Strawberry quartz makes beautiful cabochons, beads, bangles, and faceted gems. Although strawberry quartz is rare, it remains an inexpensive gem. That allows it to be made into inexpensive jewelry using sterling silver or 10 karat gold mountings. The buyer might splurge on a 14 karat…
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What is Strawberry Quartz ?
“Strawberry quartz” is a novelty gem and a marketing term used for specimens of pink to red quartz or quartzite that receive their color from eye-visible mineral inclusions. Colorless quartz colored pink to red by inclusions of other minerals. The inclusions can be small platelets of hematite, flakes of lepidolite, flakes of alurgite (a orangy red muscovite), crystals of piemontite, or other minerals…