What is Rose Quartz?
Rose quartz is a kind of stone that exhibits tones in various shades of pink and other related colors. Rose quartz can be pale pink, deep rosy red, and sometimes even light lavender. Rose quartz, like all other kinds of stones, are made deep in the earth when specific minerals are subject to heat, pressure, or both. The internal structure of stones as well as their color is attributed to the specific conditions under which they were created. Rose quartz gains its color from small amounts of manganese, iron, or titanium.
Rose quartz is not considered to be a precious stone. Furthermore, it is at the lower end of the spectrum among semi-precious stones. The color of rose quartz is not considered to be as attractive as more brilliant stones such as amethyst and garnet. While there is some variation in the depth of color in these stones, they are hardly ever as pale as the average piece of rose quartz. Furthermore, the minerals within rose quartz are photo sensitive. This means that, after a period of exposure to light, the already pale hue of the stone can fade.
There are other reasons why rose quartz is not prized as highly as some other precious stones. For one, rose quartz is neither completely clear nor opaque. The inside of a piece of rose quartz is often milky and varies in color depth. Also, rose quartz often has large flaws such as visible irregularities in the stone, or even traces of other kinds of stone. For these reasons, rose quartz is hardly ever cut into a faceted gem. Rather, the stone is tumbled and smoothed so that it simply has rounded edges. Therefore, rose quartz is often formed into round beads.
The first rose quartz was discovered in the United States, near Rumford, Maine. However, most of the rose quartz in the North American market is imported from South America. In fact, most rose quartz comes from Minas Gerias, Brazil. Although rose quartz does not have the same kind of popularity that other stones such as jade and turquoise do, it is often used as an accent stone along with other more brilliant ones.
In some circles, gemstones are believed to correlated directly to a mystical system of energies. Many earth-based faiths believe strongly in the magical properties of gemstones. In such belief systems, rose quartz is prized for helping individuals to attract love and overcome emotional pain.
Written by Diane Goettel
