dazzlings
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Post by dazzlings on Jul 29, 2015 19:28:05 GMT -5
I have a polished slice pendant given to me by my grandmother as a gift in my teens. I just loved the unique piece of jewelry, I never bothered to ask what it is. I have to get a photo uploaded, but in the meantime, my big question is whether it's rultilated or tourmalated quartz and how to tell. I'm going to guess Rutilated looked more needly,spiky and strand like where as tourmalated looks like some kind of black inclusion. Would this be correct? Example photos of both would be much appreciated! Also, is this smokey? UPDATE: PHOTOS
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Post by gingerkid on Jul 29, 2015 19:34:14 GMT -5
Hi, dazzlings! I hope you'll upload a photo of the pendant that you received as a gift from your grandmother soon. Here's a nice webpage on quartz inclusions with some photos for you. www.quartzpage.de/inc_text.html
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Post by jakesrocks on Jul 29, 2015 20:32:54 GMT -5
I'll be watching for your pic too. As a general rule, rutilated will have golden needles. Tourmilated will have black needles.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on Jul 29, 2015 20:51:28 GMT -5
Dazzlings, here are some images from my archive. Keep in mind the body color of rutilated quartz can be clear or smoky black/brownish and intermediate shades. The rutile needles are usually gold but can be red and other hues as shown here. The only tourmalinated quartz I've seen contains black tourmaline crystals (schorl) as shown. Maybe other colors are possible but they're certainly not common. Post your images when you have them. Golden Rutilated Red Rutilated Black Tourmalinated Pear Dense Black Tourmalinated
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dazzlings
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Post by dazzlings on Aug 5, 2015 10:15:29 GMT -5
You all have been immensely helpful! I finally uploaded photos. Sorry for the delay. I saw a reputable site selling a piece of quartz with spiky balls of black material and they called it rutilated, so it caused much of my confusion which you all cleared up! Perhaps this slice is really something else? Perhaps even smoky quartz with black tourmaline inclusions or some other mineral. I hope to figure out what exactly it is. My grandmother had an eye for the unique and I have carved animals made of stones like onyx and Tiger's eye as well as Native American crafted jewelry and this piece has always been a favorite.
On the other side of my family, my granduncle was a gem hunter and a world traveler. I have lovely pieces from his collection but have no idea where most of them were found, so it's a little harder to identify. I hope to share photos of them with the board!
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Post by vegasjames on Aug 5, 2015 14:29:20 GMT -5
I have also seen green tourmaline crystals in quartz.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Aug 5, 2015 17:56:27 GMT -5
I have some of each (rutilated and tourmalated), and always felt the same way. Then I found this on Pinterest:
"A polished quartz ball with the mineral rutile growing inside (an inclusion). Rutile can be golden or black but looks like sunlit straw here."
Can rutile be black? All the Google images of rutile are golden in color, not black. Maybe what you call it depends on if the mineral is tourmaline or rutile, not dependent on the color of the inclusion? Or maybe this person is wrong?
I prefer to see it the way Rick gemfeller describes it. That's how I've always thought of it. Jean
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on Aug 5, 2015 19:34:38 GMT -5
Jean, that sphere is a knock-out -- beautiful. There's a confusing number of clear quartz inclusions: tourmaline, iron, rutile, cacoxenite etc. Some of the iron inclusions can be black as well as red and metallic. The black hematite inclusions could easily be mistaken for rutile. Below are images of a few types. I have more that I'll try to post when my "honey-do's" are done. The pendant and the Strawberry quartz are both forms of hematite. The black type is also called Super Seven after the 7 chakras -- I don't get into metaphysical stuff like that. I prefer scientific names when available. I have others in light amethyst with inclusions of several colors. The cacoxenite below is a double-sided piece I cut for a pendant, It's not called cacoxenite these days but I'm blamed if I can think of the mineral name now used. The rutilated cab is over 2-inches long and that quality is almost impossible to find these days. I recently purchased some small fan-type rutilated rough from a Brazilian dealer for $1.50/gram and it can't hold a candle to this piece. Pendant Rutilated Cacoxenite Strawberry Quartz Pear Strawberry Quartz Oval
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on Aug 6, 2015 14:35:14 GMT -5
While this thread doesn't seem to be stirring feverish excitement, I'll follow up with the promised images of other clear quartz inclusions anyhow. Some of the iron inclusions are very confusing to me and maybe there's a mineralogist out there who can straighten things out. Sometimes the images I previously identified as "Strawberry Quartz" and others with hematite inclusions are referred to as having Leidocrocite inclusions instead. The same is true of some of the speciments I show below. Lepidocrocite is another iron mineral related to goethite that is sometimes called hydrohematite. Go figure. I'm sure there must be differences but for the moment "hematite" will do for me. Anyhow the following are some neat quartzes I recently acquired from Brazil. Most fall into the category described above but the last appears to me to feature miniature pyrite "suns" (the kind usually found in coal mines) encased in clear quartz. I could be wrong. No matter what they're called they're interesting and attractive. Lepidocrocite Pair Lepido Pear Shape Inclusions With Amethyst Pyrite “Suns”
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dazzlings
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Post by dazzlings on Aug 16, 2015 17:22:55 GMT -5
Beautiful examples, wow. Thanks for sharing! Ive added my pendant. Any ideas what it is? Now I'm doubting it's either!!
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dazzlings
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Post by dazzlings on Aug 16, 2015 17:24:30 GMT -5
Hi, dazzlings! I hope you'll upload a photo of the pendant that you received as a gift from your grandmother soon. Here's a nice webpage on quartz inclusions with some photos for you. www.quartzpage.de/inc_text.htmlThanks so much! Ive uploaded it and added it to my original post. Now I'm not sure what it is!
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dazzlings
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Post by dazzlings on Aug 16, 2015 17:26:22 GMT -5
Dazzlings, here are some images from my archive. Keep in mind the body color of rutilated quartz can be clear or smoky black/brownish and intermediate shades. The rutile needles are usually gold but can be red and other hues as shown here. The only tourmalinated quartz I've seen contains black tourmaline crystals (schorl) as shown. Maybe other colors are possible but they're certainly not common. Post your images when you have them. beautiful collection you have! I'm in awe! I've uploaded the pendant to my original post. I'm not quite sure what it is now. Have you any ideas?
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on Aug 16, 2015 19:45:16 GMT -5
Hi dazzlings. Baaed on the images you posted I can rule out both rutilated and tourmalinated quartz but I can't suggest a positive ID. It appears to be a veined massive material like serpentine or jade but I wouldn't want to go out on either of those limbs without some tests. It could be a number of other stones as well. My advice is to just love and enjoy it as a remembrance of your grandmother.
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Post by vegasjames on Aug 16, 2015 21:19:33 GMT -5
Wow, those pyrite suns are really cool. I have never seen that before in quartz.
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dazzlings
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Post by dazzlings on Aug 18, 2015 11:53:53 GMT -5
Hi dazzlings. Baaed on the images you posted I can rule out both rutilated and tourmalinated quartz but I can't suggest a positive ID. It appears to be a veined massive material like serpentine or jade but I wouldn't want to go out on either of those limbs without some tests. It could be a number of other stones as well. My advice is to just love and enjoy it as a remembrance of your grandmother. Thank you so much for ruling those out. As a teen, I thought it was smokey quartz of some kind, but never thought to ask what it actually was. It may have come with a card saying what it is as many of my similar gifts did, but I just can't recall. I grew up in the town where there's a geology museum. Perhaps I fan bring it next time I go to a sale and ask around. I know photos aren't the best way to judge it. But as you said, in the end I'll treasure it regardless. I just have a feeling she chose it for a reason (my grandfather was into the metaphysical aspects of rocks and minerals).
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2015 14:33:16 GMT -5
I have also seen green tourmaline crystals in quartz. And pink too.the Quartz was massive white not clear.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2015 14:36:24 GMT -5
gemfeller Rick thanks for posting those images. Super cool! I was also going to suggest her pendant was an amphibole. dazzlings, what state are you in?
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on Aug 18, 2015 15:23:24 GMT -5
I have also seen green tourmaline crystals in quartz. And pink too.the Quartz was massive white not clear. Shotgunner: A lot of pink tourmaline crystals in massive opaque quartz came out of Paraiba State in Brazil as a result of the search for "Windex" and "Scope"-hued Paraiba gem tourmaline. Brazilian gem dealers I know in Los Angeles had many, many kilos available for display pieces some years back. That mineral association probably is known from several areas. Those Paraiba specimens also contained a lot of lepidolite. Vegas James: I've seen green tourmaline in semi-clear quartz but never any that would compare in clarity with the black schorl and rutilated material. But there's lots of stuff in this old Earth I haven't seen.
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