Quartz

One mineral, ten trade names. Clear, rose, smoky, golden healer, hematoid, tourmalinated, lithium, ice and striated quartz are all silicon dioxide — what changes is what grew inside the crystal, or what a workshop did to it afterwards. 32 pieces, $3.95 to $7,355.95, from pocket stones to singing bowls.

A raw clear quartz cluster, a polished quartz sphere and a smoky quartz tower on a slab of dark green marble, lit by candlelight with drifting incense smoke

The full guide to quartz

Thirty-two pieces, $3.95 to $7,355.95 — a factor of more than eighteen hundred for what is chemically one substance. Quartz is silicon dioxide. Everything on this page is silicon dioxide. What separates the tumbled stone from the room-scale cluster is size, cut, clarity and origin, and it is worth knowing which of those you are paying for before you decide how much to spend.

Ten trade names, one mineral — and two of them are not geology. Clear, rose, smoky, golden healer, hematoid, tourmalinated, lithium and striated quartz are all quartz that grew with something else present. Smoky takes its brown-gray from natural irradiation of aluminum-bearing quartz over millions of years. Golden healer and hematoid are iron oxide running through the body of the stone. Tourmalinated is clear quartz threaded with black tourmaline needles. Lithium quartz wears a fine lilac coat. But ice quartz is clear quartz heated to extreme temperature and plunged into ice water so it fractures internally into thousands of tiny prisms, and aura finishes are fine metals bonded to the surface of a natural crystal. Those two are workshop processes, not varieties. Neither is a flaw and both are disclosed on the product page — but it is worth knowing which names describe how a stone grew and which describe what was done to it afterwards.

Clear quartz is the only stone in the shop sold as a blank. Rose quartz is for the heart, smoky for grounding, golden healer for amplifying — each arrives with an assignment. Clear quartz is described as the stone for everything, the one that takes whatever you bring to it. That is why it appears in more forms than any other material here: a comfort stone, a large tumble, spheres in two grades, three lamps, three obelisks, a free-form sculpture and the largest specimen on the page.

Quartz is also the only mineral in this shop you buy for its sound — and that inverts the pricing. Four crystal singing bowls are cast from high-purity quartz. As an object, quartz costs more when there is more of it. As an instrument it does not: the two sixteen-inch bowls are $847.95, while a 5.75-inch Solfeggio bowl is $1,124.95 and a 6.75-inch is $1,232.95. The small bowls cost more than the large ones because you are paying for the tuning and the galvanized finish, not the diameter.

The size ladder for solid pieces. Pocket and palm, $3.95 to $8.95. Desk objects, $19.95 to $55.95 — points, an obelisk tower, a free-form, a 60 mm sphere. Lamps, $39.95 to $79.95. Statement pieces, $110.95 to $1,471.95: the rose quartz obelisk, an extra-quality sphere, a 7.55 kg lithium cluster and clear quartz obelisks at 17.5 and 20.5 inches. Then a single 25-inch Minas Gerais cluster with a custom acrylic stand at $7,355.95, which needs floor space rather than a shelf. Most of the large material is Brazilian, and Minas Gerais has supplied the world’s best quartz for two centuries.

Honestly named. This page shows thirty-two products, and the shop sells considerably more quartz than that. Amethyst is quartz. So is citrine. Both are stocked in depth — eighteen and eleven active pieces — and neither is ever titled “quartz”, so neither collects here; amethyst has a page of its own. The real gap inside this page is rose quartz: the tumbled pocket stone and the pyramid are not currently in stock, so the cheapest rose quartz is a $10 body oil, and the cheapest rose quartz stone jumps to a $29.95 set and then straight to a $110.95 obelisk.

Where this sits

This page sorts by mineral. The pages around it sort by shape, which is why nearly every piece here has a second address. The six quartz pieces under $10 — the clear, smoky, golden healer and tourmalinated palm stones — are six of the thirty-four in Tumbled & Pocket Stones, and the same six make up the quartz corner of everything under $10. The four obelisks, the ice quartz point and the 25-inch cluster are six of the twenty in Crystal Points & Towers; the 60 mm ball and the extra-quality crystal ball are two of the ten in Crystal Spheres & Pyramids. Four of the six crystal singing bowls are quartz, which is where the top of the price range comes from, and four of the thirteen crystal lamps are wired clear quartz at $39.95 to $79.95. The 7.55 kg lithium quartz cluster is the one piece here filed as a specimen, with Fine & Collector Minerals. Came for rose quartz in particular? Rose & Rose Quartz keeps all six rose quartz pieces together and adds eleven rose-scented ones. The two family members held on their own pages are amethyst, nineteen pieces, and citrine, eleven. The shelf all of it stands on is Crystals & Stones — 121 active pieces, $1.95 to $7,968.95.

Questions people ask

Are rose quartz, smoky quartz and clear quartz really the same mineral?

Yes. All three are silicon dioxide. The color comes from what was present while the crystal grew: iron for golden healer and hematoid, natural irradiation of aluminum-bearing quartz for smoky, trace elements for rose, black tourmaline needles for tourmalinated, a lilac mineral layer for lithium quartz. The trade name describes the inclusion, not a different stone.

Why does a small crystal singing bowl cost more than a large one?

Because a bowl is priced as an instrument rather than as a piece of stone. The two sixteen-inch bowls here are $847.95; the 5.75-inch and 6.75-inch Solfeggio bowls are $1,124.95 and $1,232.95. The smaller ones are tuned to specific Solfeggio frequencies and carry a galvanized color finish, and that is what the extra cost buys — not diameter.

What is ice quartz, and is aura quartz natural?

Ice quartz is natural clear quartz that has been heated and then quenched in ice water, which fractures it internally into thousands of tiny reflective planes. Aura finishes bond fine metals to the surface of a natural crystal. In both cases the stone underneath is genuine quartz and the treatment is disclosed — but the effect you are buying was made in a workshop, not underground.

Is amethyst quartz? Why is it not on this page?

Amethyst is quartz, and so is citrine. Neither is titled “quartz” in this shop, so neither gathers on this page. Between them they account for around thirty more active pieces than you see here. Amethyst has its own collection, which is the place to look if you want the purple end of the family.

How should I look after quartz?

Quartz is hard — 7 on the Mohs scale — and unaffected by water, so it is one of the least demanding stones to own. Two cautions: aura-plated and galvanized surfaces are a coating and should be wiped rather than scrubbed, and colored quartz such as amethyst and rose quartz will fade with long exposure to direct sunlight. Clear quartz in a sunny window is fine.

Which quartz should I buy first?

If you want one stone that is not committed to a single purpose, clear quartz — the $6.95 comfort stone or the $8.95 large tumble. If you want a specific job, let the variety choose it: smoky for grounding, rose for heart work, golden healer for amplifying, tourmalinated when you want clarity with some shielding attached. Spending more moves you up in size and finish, not in effect.