Photo left: Purplish-red pleochroic direction seen through plain polarized light. Photo right: Same crystal seen though a different pleochroic direction, showing a pinkish-yellow colour. Photographs by C. Bexfield. Read more: What Career Paths Can Trained Gemmologists Take? Cryptocrystalline quartz varieties offer a huge diversity of patterns and colors. The most generally widespread of these materials is composed of tiny fibers of silica and is known as chalcedony. Names within the cryptocrystalline quartz family are generally based on colors and patterns. The solid-colored materials are mostly chalcedony stained by oxides and are referred to as jaspers. Banded varieties, or materials with moss-like inclusions, are known as agate. Magnesium Aluminium Phosphate (MgAl2(PO4)2(OH)2) blue, bright blue, greenish-blue to bluish-white in colour. Forms in the monoclinic crystal system and has a prismatic habit, sometimes with pyramidal terminations and usually short, stout crystals. One of the less common inclusions in quartz. Quartz Inclusions: Piemontite

Quartz is the mineral defining the value of 7 on the Mohs scale of hardness, a qualitative scratch method for determining the hardness of a material to abrasion. a b Henn, U.; Schultz-Güttler, R. (2012). "Review of some current coloured quartz varieties" (PDF). J. Gemmol. 33: 29–43. doi: 10.15506/JoG.2012.33.1.29 . Retrieved 7 April 2021.

Brush Development's team of scientists included: Danforth R. Hale, Andrew R. Sobek, and Charles Baldwin Sawyer (1895–1964). The company's U.S. patents included: Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz. The name comes from the Koine Greek αμέθυστος amethystos from α- a-, "not" and μεθύσκω ( Ancient Greek) methysko / μεθώ metho ( Modern Greek), "intoxicate", a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness. [1] Ancient Greeks wore amethyst and carved drinking vessels from it in the belief that it would prevent intoxication. Calcium Fluoride (CaF2) can be found in any colour but when formed within quartz the blue and purple colours are more common. Growing as a cubic material, fluorite usually forms as cubes or octahedrons with strong colour zoning throughout the crystal. As quartz is a form of silica, it is a possible cause for concern in various workplaces. Cutting, grinding, chipping, sanding, drilling, and polishing natural and manufactured stone products can release hazardous levels of very small, crystalline silica dust particles into the air that workers breathe. [88] Crystalline silica of respirable size is a recognized human carcinogen and may lead to other diseases of the lungs such as silicosis and pulmonary fibrosis. [89] [90] Piezoelectricity [ edit ] Saigusa, Y. (2017). "Chapter 5 – Quartz-Based Piezoelectric Materials". In Uchino, Kenji (ed.). Advanced Piezoelectric Materials. Woodhead Publishing in Materials (2nded.). Woodhead Publishing. pp.197–233. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-08-102135-4.00005-9. ISBN 9780081021354.

Blue Quartz is a stone that can easily adjust to whoever holds it. However, its healing properties resonate more with specific zodiac signs.

Quartz Inclusions: Brookite

The properties and meaning of Blue Quartz can help all three of these signs stay a little more level-headed. The calming energy it produces counteracts their different instincts, creating more emotional balance to even out the playing field.