Joined: Sun Oct 29, 2006 11:43 pm Posts: 514 Location: North Carolina
Several years ago, maybe 10, there was a find of a pink mineral in Madagascar. The color and clarity were excellent. A bunch of it was cut and sold as morganite -- for awhile.
Then someone actually looked closely and it was the cleanest rose quartz they had ever seen, color and clarity matching morganite.
This was mentioned on the USFG forum, and a LOT of folks wanted some. I bought a parcel from Jeff Graham, who mentioned the "mixup" with morganite in his description. My wife LOVES morganite and I have cut more than a little. A cut piece of this stuff is visibly indistinguishable from pink morganite.
Using tools is the only sure way to distinguish which is which.
Different topic: I have a couple big pieces of rose quartz rough that look identical with what nickatnight has shown.
One suggestion: Always always check the S.G. of any rough you buy; actually any stone you might buy as well. I have the setup permanently in place and use it all the time, not everyday but frequently. I bought a small parcel of blue topaz a while ago, eight pieces of sky blue. Two were aquamarine. It's worth a little time to make the setup and have it handy. S.G. of 2.7 isn't topaz.
Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2008 4:40 pm Posts: 2667 Location: South Dakota
Dr. Hanneman has a solution.... The water test.... Take the stone and cut and polish a face onto it, then clean it really well, and place a small drop of water on it. If it is quartz, the water will wet the surface and the drop will spread out. If it is Morganite, the drop will form a small dome. May not work though...for separating beryl from quartz, because you can't get the quartz clean enough usually, to do the test accurately I found ole Dr. Hanneman's article in my old Lapidary Journals the other day about the "drop test" he wrote....LOL. just read him mention it in an old post, and surprisingly, I read the article not but a week ago after diggin' out my old Lap. Journal collection.
You traded for that piece of rough? Man, sure wish someone would trade me a large clean piece of morganite!!!!!
_________________ MrAmethystguy ~ Some jokes just fluorite over my head!
Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2008 4:40 pm Posts: 2667 Location: South Dakota
He states quartz and beryl, Miss B, in an old post. Si frazier is who said topaz and beryl, I think.
I don't see any euhedral faces on those pink specimens. "It's stated the "broken faces" are similar to other quartz etc" I would need to see the crystal faces in some reflected light to see what he is talking about. Got to have the growth hillocks on the faces to be sure it's actually prismatic faces Since OP states he sees faces, let's assume they are there. that rules out rose quartz right off the bat. It(rose quartz) doesn't ever form crystals or faces. That rules out rose quartzif it has euhedral faces). Now, pink quartz is another option, but that would be the biggest piece of cutting rough of pink quartz I have ever seen. Pink quartz forms small crystals, typically, but just the other day I saw a large specimen of a smoky honey citrine from Brazil. Not sure what locale that was at....but....pink quartz is uber rare, usually small, and never in big cutting chunks like this. If it was pink quartz, I would say you hit the jackpot.
_________________ MrAmethystguy ~ Some jokes just fluorite over my head!
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
I saw the stone here. It was doubly refractive with the polarsicope but I could not find a bullseye in any direction with the coniscope. The Gemmoraman identified it as quartz. With that polariscope reaction, it would have to be a xl, not microcrystalline like we would expect from rose quartz.
The SG, RI tests were inconclusive. A polished window into the unknown would have helped.
I don't think rose quartz is microcrystalline--it has fine inclusions and doesn't have nice crystal faces but it's still monocrystalline. Otherwise it couldn't orient the dumortierine incusions to form 6-ray stars.
Jason: I was referring to the odd material from Madagascar. It would certainly be exceptional but synthetics have proven it's possible and Madagascar produces all sorts of weird stuff.
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
Stephen Challener wrote:
I don't think rose quartz is microcrystalline--it has fine inclusions and doesn't have nice crystal faces but it's still monocrystalline. Otherwise it couldn't orient the dumortierine incusions to form 6-ray stars.
Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2008 4:40 pm Posts: 2667 Location: South Dakota
LOL..Madagascar can never be discounted. from Blue garnet to Pezzottaite....chrome sphenes to the emerald/aqua hybrid "lagoon beryl" of John's. Heck....transparent with faces on some rose quartz is not a big stretch...LOL Maybe some green topaz or purple beryl next....
_________________ MrAmethystguy ~ Some jokes just fluorite over my head!
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
I copied this post from another thread:
NickatNight wrote:
Hey Barbra, heres that stone you couldnt identify as either rose quartz or Morganite. It polished right up with cerium ox on darkside so I am leaning to rose q, also slightly cloudy too. it finished up at 8.5 cts, 13.3 x 16.3mm. Seems to have a little violet or lavender tone to it, I was wearing a white shirt. This is the 'Sevyn's Recovery' design. By the way, Sevyn is doing very well, his bloodflow is still reversed from the big surgery in may, and will probably be fixed next year sometime.
Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2008 4:40 pm Posts: 2667 Location: South Dakota
Sweet..thanks for posting, Miss B! Hope you are doing good out in San Fran. I am now residing on the great plains .....in South Dakota. It's cold here and us southern folk have thinned blood..LOL
_________________ MrAmethystguy ~ Some jokes just fluorite over my head!
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