The Sumerians fashioned quartz into cylinder seals and ring seals.
The use of quartz traces back to ancient times. The name quartz comes from the old German word querkluftertz meaning cross-vein ore. The name was first used in 1530 by Georgius Agricola, the father of mineralogy.Īncient Greeks and Romans referred to quartz crystals as krustallos meaning ice. They believed that the mineral was ice that never melted because it was created by the gods themselves.
Tangerine quartz was named after its colour which can vary from red to orange. It easily forms rounded or shell-like conchoidal fractures when subjected to impact This is why quartz crystals naturally have marks or grooves on their surface. The crystal may be durable but it's also very brittle. Unlike other minerals that dissolve in weaker acids, quartz is only soluble in hydrofluoric acid. It remains very stable even when exposed to extreme temperatures and harsh chemicals. Quartz has a Mohs hardness rating of 7 making it a highly durable mineral. Tangerine quartz specimens can be light yellow to a deep rusty orange (almost the colour red). As it precipitates, hematite creates a rusty coating inside or on the surface of the clear quartz crystal. What gives the crystal its red to orange colour? This colouration is the result of the mineral hematite being encrusted in the quartz crystal.Īs an iron stone, hematite rusts when combined with water. Naturally occurring tangerine quartz is a silicon dioxide mineral and a variety of quartz. The Physical Properties of Tangerine Quartz
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