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Questions and Answers
What is 'tourmalinated quartz' characterized by?
What is the color of rock crystal?
What is the chemical composition of all quartz varieties?
What is the trace element responsible for the color of Citrine?
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What type of rocks can quartz form in?
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What is the characteristic of Smoky Quartz?
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What is the characteristic of Amethyst?
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What is the characteristic of Rose Quartz?
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What is the Mohs scale of Quartz?
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Which of the following is a type of Quartz?
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What is the color range of Amethyst?
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What is the effect of brownish or bronze-colored tints on the price of Amethyst?
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What is Lemon Quartz?
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What is the color range of Citrine?
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What is the effect of medium-dark to dark reddish purple or purple color on the price of Amethyst?
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What is Chalcedony a type of?
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What is the crystal system of Quartz and Chalcedony?
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What is the characteristic of Rose Quartz?
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What can cause asterism in Rock Crystal and Smoky Quartz?
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What is the common treatment for Amethyst?
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What is the result of heat treatment on Amethyst?
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What is the characteristic of Citrine?
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What is the characteristic of Smoky Quartz?
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What is the name of the quartz that has eye-visible needle-like mineral inclusions?
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Which of the following countries is NOT a source of Rock Quartz?
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What is the primary method of synthetic production for Amethyst?
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Which of the following is a type of Amethyst grade?
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What is the typical color of Amethyst graded as 'light' or 'C'?
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Which of the following is NOT a cutting and marketing center for Amethyst?
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What is the primary reason for the production of synthetic Quartz?
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Which of the following is a type of Quartzite source?
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What is the primary material used to produce synthetic Amethyst via the hydrothermal method?
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What is the result of heat treating very dark Smoky Quartz?
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Which type of quartz is often treated with irradiation to intensify its color?
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What is the effect of quench-crackling on Rock Crystal quartz?
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What is often done to Tiger's Eye quartz to produce a brighter color?
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What is the common use of Quartzite?
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What is the characteristic of Amethyst from Zambia?
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Which type of quartz is often cut into emerald cuts with a focus on half and half distribution?
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Where is the Anahí mine, a source of natural Ametrine?
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Study Notes
Quartz Varieties
- Ametrine: a transparent, bicolor variety of quartz containing both amethyst and citrine, with a medium-dark to moderately strong orange and vivid to strong purple or violetish purple color.
- Smoky Quartz: a light yellowish brown to dark brown variety, with very dark brown Smoky Quartz being called Morion, and the best quality having a deep reddish brown color with orange-red pleochroic flashes.
- Rose Quartz: a very light pink to medium-dark pink variety, with the finest quality being highly transparent.
- Rock Crystal: a colorless, transparent quartz variety, with "tourmalinated quartz" having dark-hued tourmaline inclusions, and "rutilated quartz" or Venus hair stone having hair-thin reddish or golden rutile crystals.
- Cat's Eye Quartz: a semitransparent to translucent brownish yellow, brownish green, or greenish yellow variety.
- Tiger's Eye Quartz: a semitranslucent to opaque gem with a pattern of lustrous yellow and brown bands that reverse color, with "zebra tiger's-eye" being a variegated grayish blue and brown variety, and "hawk's-eye" or falcon's-eye being a grayish blue color.
Chemical Composition
- All quartz varieties have a base of silicon and oxygen.
- Amethyst: trace element is iron.
- Citrine: trace elements are iron.
- Smoky Quartz: natural radiation involves aluminum impurities.
Forming Source
- Quartz varieties are formed in pegmatite, volcanic, and sedimentary rocks.
Crystal Structure
- All quartz varieties fall under the trigonal crystal system.
- Quartz and Chalcedony have different sizes of crystals, including large single or twinned crystals, microcrystalline aggregates of small crystals, and cryptocrystalline aggregates of tiny microscopic crystals.
Phenomena
- Chatoyant: a phenomenon where the gemstone appears to have a narrow, bright band of light.
- Aventurescence: a phenomenon where the gemstone appears to have glittering, metallic inclusions.
- Rose Quartz: numerous small inclusions can create asterism.
- Rock Crystal and Smoky Quartz: can have "phantom effects" with a v-shaped color band visible with the unaided eye.
Clarity Characteristics
- Amethyst: color zoning and inclusions.
- Citrine: color zoning and inclusions.
- Rose Quartz: tends to internal fractures, giving a cloudy translucence.
- Rock Crystal: eye inclusions, with "Sagenitic quartz" or sagenite having eye-visible needle-like mineral inclusions.
Treatments
- Amethyst: heat treatment is most common to lighten dark stones.
- Citrine: natural citrine is rare, most on the market is the result of heat treatment.
- Ametrine: heat treatment or a combination of heat treatment and irradiation.
quartz and Chalcedony
- Quartz is a larger crystal structure.
- Chalcedony is a Quartz species with a smaller crystal structure.
Largest Consumers
- Rock Crystal: China and the USA.
Mohs Scale
- Quartz has a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale.
Variety/Species/Group
- Quartz is a larger crystal structure.
- Chalcedony is a Quartz species with a smaller crystal structure.
Color/Hue Range/Value
- Amethyst: hues range from strongly saturated violetish purple to reddish purple.
- Citrine: transparent, yellow to brownish orange variety of quartz.
- Smoky Quartz: light yellowish brown to dark brown variety.
- Rose Quartz: very light pink to medium-dark pink variety.
- Rock Crystal: colorless, transparent quartz variety.
- Tiger's Eye Quartz: semitranslucent to opaque gem with a pattern of lustrous yellow and brown bands.
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