3" Polished Rose Quartz Bowl

Rose quartz is a type of quartz that exhibits a pale pink to rose-red hue. It is most commonly found in large masses and very rarely forms individual crystals, unlike many other varieties of quartz. While rose quartz can be found many places throughout the world, the best commercially available material comes from Madagascar and Brazil. It is frequently polished and used for decorative purposes.

Rose quartz is evenly colored with masses ranging from pink to almost purple. The exact cause of the color was debated for years. Originally it was assumed to either be due to rutile inclusions (titanium dioxide) within the quartz masses, or irradiated "color centers", as is the case with amethyst or smoky quartz. An x-ray diffraction study in 1987 showed that it was due to neither of these, but due to the inclusion of microscopic fibers believed to be the mineral dumortierite. Even more recent analysis using other techniques have shown the microscopic fibers are an unidentified mineral closely related to dumortierite. These fibers make up up only about 0.05% - 0.15% of the overall weight of rose quartz.

About Quartz

Quartz is the name given to silicon dioxide (SiO2) and is the second most abundant mineral in the Earth's crust. Quartz crystals generally grow in silica-rich environments--usually igneous rocks or hydrothermal environments like geothermal waters--at temperatures between 100°C and 450°C, and usually under very high pressure. In either case, crystals will precipitate as temperatures cool, just as ice gradually forms when water freezes. Quartz veins are formed when open fissures are filled with hot water during the closing stages of mountain formation: these veins can be hundreds of millions of years old.