Rutilated quartz is quite simple quartz stone with rutile enclosures. Rutile is a mineral that is made up mostly of titanium dioxide, or TiO2. As a mineral, rutile is very high on the refractive index and disperses more than almost any other mineral. This means that when rutile appears in other minerals, it almost always appears in long, thin shots of color. Rutilus is, in fact, the Latin word for red. The mineral gained this name because some specimens are a lovely deep red color. Rutile, however, can also appear in brown and gray tones.

Quartz is one of the most common mineral on our planet. In fact, it makes up over 10% of planet Earth’s crust. Furthermore, quartz is quite widespread. It can be found in almost every geographical environment. It is understandable that such an abundant mineral comes in a number of variations. These include rose quartz, smoky quartz, and rutilated quartz. The quartz family, including rutilated quartz can be found as far away as Brazil, Madagascar, Australia, Norway, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan. It can also be found in the United States. Many of the mountain ranges in America contain large deposits of quartz.

When rutile appears within quartz, creating rutilated quartz, it often appears as needles of included color. In some gorgeous examples, rutilated quartz looks as if it is filled with gold fibers. In many pieces of rutilated quartz, the rutile inclusions are all on the same axis. Because of this, each individual rutile strand is visible. The effect is uniquely beautiful. Venus hair stone, Fleches d’amour, and Cupid’s darts are also names associated with rutilated quartz.

Rutile and quartz have different levels of hardness on the Mohs scale. For this reason, rutilated quartz can be difficult to smooth the stone properly so that it can be set in jewelry. For this reason, some specimens of rutilated quartz are pitted on the surface. Prized examples of this stone often include complete rutiles that are entirely encased in quartz. In these stones, the rutile does not extend past the barrier of the quartz edge, and can therefore be properly polished.

Some earth-based faiths believe that gemstones contain certain spiritual and healing properties. In this arena, rutilated quartz is believes to bring forth one’s personal strengths, empowers originality, and helps one to related to others. It is also believed to relieve feelings of loneliness and depression.