Strawberry Quartz
Strawberry quartz is a trade name that refers to pink quartz with numerous hematite-like needles oriented roughly perpendicular to the faces of the terminations. It has the appearance similar to a real strawberry, redish in color with light terminations seen from the surface. Strawberry quartz is a very rare type of quartz. It was found in Kazakhstan, one of the former Soviet republics. The color of this stone varies from pale pink to pink, and it has shining and sparkling needles inside, which make strawberry quartz so attractive . Kazakhstan and Mexico are locations known for producing this very rare material. It is extremely difficult to find a crystal that has good habit with luster and clarity that is good enough to see the inclusions. Because of this the majority of the specimens seen from either locality are polished.
There are MANY items sold that are called strawberry quartz that in fact are not. China has flooded the market with clear quartz with red acicular like swirl inclusions, calling this "strawberry quartz". It is also often found now being sold now by people who are calling pink colored glass with some strawberry-red inclusions "strawberry quartz". As they always say...buyer beware...
All photos taken with a Nikon Coolpix L1 camera outdoors in natural light except the two marked indoors. All photos are exactly as taken with no enhancements added
Item # 1SQTZ09196208
Strawberry Quartz Crystal Cluster from Kazakhstan
$450.00
This is a strikingly rare natural strawberry quartz specimen from a remote Kazakhstan locale (one of the former Soviet republics). It was found in the Shakyrtaz plateau , near the Uzbekistan border close to Chimkent city in Southern Kazakhstan. These distinctively colored sharply terminated crystals have matte lustre frosted faces. There are different opinions as to what the heavily infused inclusions are which catch the light and sparkle like spun gold as the gem is turned from side to side. It may be finely divided rutile, goethite, hematite or maybe even combinations of all of these. This specimen has been in our personal collection since the 1990’s and the locality has long ago been exhausted. Natural specimens like this are extremely scarce. Most specimens have been cut and polished to make jewelry. This specimen was obtained from a mineral dealer from Prague, Czech Republic who sold it at the Tucson show in the early 1990’s. There are chips on some of the tips, pix show tip condition. Left click photo for larger version. This specimen will make many fine jewelry stones or it makes a rare cabinet display.
Specimen weighs 6.7 oz or 0.42 lbs (192g) and measures 2.7 x 2.5 x 1.4 inches (6.9 x 6.3 x 3.6 cm)