3.3" Polished Rose Quartz Egg - South Dakota

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.