The term quartz is of Slavic origin and stands for 'hard'. Very popular stones like the amethyst, the citrine or the tiger's eye are assigned to the group of quarz. However, the primary quartz is the rock crystal in the antique jewellery! Crystal means 'ice' in Greek on the other hand and this name was chosen because originally the rock crystal was considered to be everlasting-frozen. The worldwide occurrence of rock crystal can be of heavy weight, however, it is not essentially worthy of cutting. Crystals of eye-clear quality were either cut as a cabochon or were processed as a favourable diamond substitute in old and brilliant cuts.

By natural or artificial gamma irradiation rock crystal adopts a smoky colour. With the natural occurrence, radioactive elements or minerals are responsible for this in the surrounding rock. Through this method the smoky quartz developed. This variety of rock crystal is brown to almost black or it is smoky-grey rings, pendants and bracelets. The smoky quartz is put impressively in the limelight, above all as a solitary eye-catcher on antique and vintage rings. The mineral enjoys great popularity because of its earthy and warm colour character. If one believes in esotericism, rock crystal and smoky quartz protect its bearers against headaches and harmful rays. Further they should clean the body and promote the blood circulation.
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