Quartz

Quartz is named after a Slavic word for "hard" and comes in two main varieties which share the same silicon dioxide chemical composition. Quartz is one of the most common minerals on Earth and can be found almost everywhere, from the Alps to Brazil, Madagascar and the United States. It is still an attractive and durable gemstone with the additional advantage of being inexpensive. It can be cut and carved in many forms and size to create a astounding variety of Quartz jewellery. Macrocrystalline quartz includes stones like amethyst, aventurine, rock crystal, blue quartz, citrine, hawk's eye, prasiolite, rose quartz and tiger's eye. Smoky Quartz (sometimes incorrectly called smokey topaz) is a brown coloured transparent Quartz that is sometimes used for unusual faceted cuts although there is limited demand for brown gemstones.