Visiting the Smithsonian: The Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems & Minerals. Heritage Auction - Rose Quartz: Video of the 'La Madona Rosa' auction on the YouTube website, published September 2014. Rose Quartz: 'La Madona Rosa': Auction description on the Heritage Auctions website, last accessed December 2023. The Secret Lives of Minerals: Elisabeth Nadin, Engineering & Science, Number 1, pages 10-20, 2007. Rose Quartz: Article on the website, last accessed December 2023. It is on display in The Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. It consists of a central cluster of smoky quartz crystals surrounded by a belt of pink quartz. 'The Van Allen Belt' is another famous pink quartz specimen from Minas Gerias, Brazil. It is about 39 centimeters tall and about 20 centimeters wide. It consists of a central cluster of smoky quartz crystals surrounded by a halo of quartz crystals with a vivid pink color. This specimen is believed to have been discovered at the Sapucaia Mine in Minas Gerais, Brazil in the 1950s. One specimen of note is 'La Madona Rosa' (The Pink Madonna) that was sold for $550,000 in June, 2013 by Heritage Auctions (see video). The exceptions have been a few spectacular specimens of pink quartz with well-formed crystals that have sold for very high prices. Rose quartz is not one of the most commonly seen specimens in mineral collections because it rarely occurs in the well-formed crystals preferred by collectors. Image copyright iStockphoto / Verbaska Studio. Beads and puffed hearts are two of the most popular uses of rose quartz. Rose Quartz and Amethyst: A bead neckace, earrings, and a puffed heart pendant of rose quartz and amethyst. These investigators believe that the pink color and asterism of rose quartz is caused by these pink fibers that they have named dididumortierite. Through this they determined that the pink fibers are a borosilicate with properties that are very similar to those of dumortierite.

They examined these fibers using scanning electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, optical absorption spectroscopy, and x-ray diffraction. In specimen after specimen, a tangle of extremely thin pink fibers remained after the acid treatment. This treatment was intended to dissolve away the silicon dioxide of the quartz and any included material soluble in HF at 100 degrees Celsius.

They obtained samples of rose quartz from a number of localities throughout the world and gently dissolved them in hydrofluoric acid heated to 100 degrees Celsius. In the late 1990s, an interesting investigation into the color and asterism of rose quartz was done by George Rossman, Julia Goreva, and Chi Ma at Caltech. Tiny needles of rutile have been given credit for forming the six-ray star of rose quartz for the same amount of time. In the mineralogical literature, the pink color of rose quartz has been attributed to titanium, manganese, and iron by a large number of authors for over 100 years. This piece of rough has great color and would make nice cabochons, or beads, or be used to make tumbled stones in a rock tumbler. Rose Quartz Rough: A rough piece of rose quartz showing its conchoidal fracture, vitreous luster, translucence and pink color. Many people believe that pink transparent quartz should be called 'pink quartz' instead of 'rose quartz' because the cause of the color is different. Pink transparent quartz is rare, but found in several locations around the world. This color is often unstable, fading with exposure to heat or light. The color of these specimens, especially those that are transparent, is thought to be caused by irradiation-induced color centers. These are usually late-stage mineralizations in pegmatite pockets. Rarely, quartz occurs as transparent euhedral crystals with a pink color. These inclusions are usually abundant enough to make the rose quartz translucent instead of transparent.

The pink color of rose quartz is attributed to microscopic inclusions of a pink variety of the mineral dumortierite. It is usually occurs as massive, anhedral occurrences in hydrothermal veins and pegmatites. It is abundant, common, and found in large quantities at numerous locations around the world. Rose quartz is the name used for pink specimens of the mineral quartz.

Rose quartz in rock