If you gaze deep inside a crystal ball, you will see a adaptable gemstone, one of the most popular gems on earth. Beautiful quartz, the "rock crystal" used in ancient times to make crystal balls and bowls, is today more often seen set in gold jewelry. Despite the reputation of quartz gems like amethyst, citrine, ametrine, rose quartz, onyx, agates, chrysoprase, rutilated quartz, and other quartz gemstone varieties, many people in the jewellery industry take quartz for granted because of its reasonable price.
Throughout history, quartz has been the common chameleon of gemstones, standing in for more costly gemstones ranging from diamond to jade. But the unbelievable variety of quartz is now beginning to be appreciated for its own sake.

Purple to violet amethyst and yellow to orange citrine are jewellery staples that continue to increase in reputation. Ametrine combines the appeal of both amethyst and citrine as well as both the purple and yellow in one bicoloured gemstone. Different colours and types of chalcedony, from agate to chrysoprase, have grown in popularity with the growing admiration for carved gemstones and art cutting and carving. And unusual quartz specialties like drusy quartz, with its surface covered by tiny sparking crystals, and rutilated quartz, which has a landscape of shining gold needles inside, are adding variety and nature's artistry to unusual one-of-a-kind jewellery.

Rose quartz

The pale pink colour of quartz, which can range from transparent to translucent, is known as rose quartz. The colour is a very pale and subtle powder pink. Transparent rose quartz is very rare and is usually so pale that it does not show very much colour apart from in large sizes. The translucent quality of rose quartz is much more available and is used for beads, cabochons, carvings, and architectural purposes.

Smoky quartz

Smoky quartz is a brown translucent quartz that is sometimes used for unusual faceted cuts. The commercial market is limited due to the limited demand for brown gemstones. This assortment was sometimes known as smoky topaz in the past, which is wrong and misleading, since the mineral variety is quartz, not topaz.

Tiger's Eye

Tiger's Eye quartz contains brown iron which produces its golden-yellow colour. Cabochon cut stones of this variety show the chatoyancy (small ray of light on the surface) that resembles the feline eye of a tiger. The most significant deposit is in South Africa, though Tiger's eye is also found in Western Australia, Burma (Myanmar), India and the U.S. (California).

Rock crystal

The transparent colourless assortment of quartz is still known as rock crystal. Long ago, people believed that rock crystal was a compact form of ice: crystallos actually means "frozen." The best rock crystal has the clarity and glisten of water. Although colourless quartz is comparatively common, large flawless specimens are not, which is why crystal balls these days are made of glass, not quartz. Rock crystal has often been used in jewellery, predominantly carved pieces. Many striking Art Deco jewellery designs featured the black and white quartz amalgamation of rock crystal and onyx. Colourless quartz crystals have also become popular in jewellery due to the popularity of myths about the powers of quartz crystals. Many people believe that wearing quartz crystals benefits a person's health and spiritual well being.

Rutilated quartz and tourmalinated quartz

While most varieties of transparent quartz are appreciated most when they lack inclusions, some varieties are valued primarily because of inclusions! The most popular of these is known as rutilated quartz. Rutilated quartz is transparent rock crystal with golden needles of rutile arrayed in patterns inside. Every pattern is different and some are breathtakingly stunning. The inclusions are sometimes called Venus hair. Less well known is a variety called tourmalinated quartz which, instead of golden rutile, has black or dark green tourmaline crystals.

Chalcedonies

Quartz that is formed not of one single crystal but finely grained micro crystals is known as chalcedony. The variety of chalcedony is even greater than transparent quartz varieties because it includes crypto crystalline quartz with patterns as well as a wide variety of solid colours. Agates are banded, bloodstone has red spots on a green ground, moss agate has a vegetal pattern. Jasper sometimes looks like a landscape painting. Another staple of the jewellery industry is black onyx, chalcedony quartz which owes its even black colour to an ancient dyeing process that is still used today. Carnelian, another chalcedony treasured in the ancient world, has a vibrant brownish orange colour and clear translucency that makes it popular for signet rings and seals. Chrysoprase, a vivid apple green translucent chalcedony, is the most valued. It was a specific favourite of Frederick The Great of Prussia, who loved its bright green colour. It can be seen today decorating many buildings in beautiful Prague, including the Chapel of St Wencelas. Chrysoprase is found today mostly in Australia. Unlike most other green stones, which owe their colour to chromium or vanadium, chrysoprase derives its colour from nickel. Its bright even colour and texture lends itself well to beads, cabochons, and carvings.