"Fire Quartz" Point (Hematite Inclusions)
Measures Approximately: 2 3/4" x 1 3/8" x 1"
Weighs Approximately: 3.6 oz
Nice dramatic crystal point! It has both red and grey sparkly spangles covering the main face. There are a couple of ghost notches from previously attached crystals.
Quartz is the most common of the silica minerals. The group is all composed of silicon dioxide but have different crystal structures. The others form under specific conditions like very high temperatures. The name quartz comes from the German quarz, without a “t”. It may be derived from the Polish kwardy (“hard”). Pure quartz is colorless but trace metal inclusions can color it purple (amethyst), yellow (citrine), and brown (smoky quartz). It also forms in fibrous varieties without visible crystals like chalcedony.
Hematite included quartz is ferruginous, colored red, yellow, or brownish orange by iron oxides like hematite and limonite. It may be natural or heated to enhance the color by reducing its water content like carnelian. The name is derived from the Greek haimatoeides (“resembling blood”). Hematite can express in several ways inside of quartz, such as dark gunmetal grey, black or red threads, spatters, or sparkly glitter. When the inclusion is red and sparkly, it has had the trade names of lepidocrocite, harlequin quartz, or fire quartz in the past. There are some popular metaphysical included quartz varieties that count these different expressions of hematite as their own distinct inclusions, even though it's all hematite. For example, there is a well known quartz that should technically now be called "Fabulous Five", instead of "Super Seven", but the metaphysical industry trade names don't tend to update when the accepted geology does.
