D 'Anne Sudeman, age 9, of Wichita, Kan,, for her question:
What is rose quartz?
This lovely mineral is named for the pale pink petals of the tenderest rose. It is rated as a semi precious stone. In color, it is quite as beautiful as the sapphires, emeralds and rubies. However, it is far from rare and therefore not as valuable as the so called precious stones. Once in a great while, we find a nodule of rose quartz in which the light dances and sparkles like the star in a star sapphire. Then it is not hard to imagine that we are gazing at a delicate rose, frozen forever inside a glassy stone.
Quartz mineral is a compound of the elements silicon and oxygen. These are the two most plentiful elements present in the rocks of the earth's crust. We are not surprised, then, to learn that quartz itself is the most plentiful of all minerals. In one form or another, it makes up 12 per cent of the rocks of the earth's crust. Of these vast mountains of quartz, however, only a very small proportion is rose quartz.
Most of the sand on the sea shores is made from common quartz. Those milky white, egg shaped pebbles are also made of quartz. Jet black flit, hard and shiny, is also made of quartz. The most beautiful quartz, however, forms in glassy crystals. When this mineral is glassy clear it is called rock crystal. It is cut and made into jewelry and sometimes sold as imitation diamond. True diamond, however, is harder and more fiery than rock crystal. It rates in class one on the scale of mineral hardness. Quartz is in class seven, which makes it a little less hard and durable than the precious stones.
Smokey quartz crystal may be brown but is more often some shade of smokey grey.
It gets its color from hydrocarbon chemicals which come from decaying animal or vegetable material. False topaz, or yellow quartz crystal, is also colored by hydrocarbon chemicals.
Some of the loveliest quartz crystal looks like frozen pansy petals. This is the beautiful amethyst. We often find clusters of amethyst hidden inside a pebble of milky white quartz. Cat’s eye, glowing and striped with buried colors of brown, green and yellow grey, is also quartz crystal. As this mineral formed, a few silken threads of asbestos were trapped inside the glassy crystal.
Rose quartz is a member of this glamorous family of minerals. In the making of it, a trace of manganese or titanium was added to the recipe. Lumps and chunks of the rosy stone are found in many parts of the world. But the best places to search for rose quartz are among the Black Hills of South Dakota and near Paris, Maine. There the stones are plentiful and most beautiful.