Framing Nature's Art

Faceting Rutilated Quartz for Beginners

- MARK OROS

Finished rutilated quartz gemstone

Faceting rutilated quartz can produce amazing gemstones for jewelry, pendulums and collector gemstones. To obtain beautiful results, the lapidary faceting the rutilated quartz has to consider many things during the design including the preforming, faceting and setting process. Using the following instructions, you will learn how to create a faceted rutilated quartz masterpiece.

RUTILATED QUARTZ HIGHLIGHTS

Rutilated quartz is a fascinating lapidary material. You have both the beauty of quartz and the rutile inclusions that give you a separate crystal formation within the quartz crystal. This happens when both quartz and rutile minerals grow together during the crystal’s creation. Rutile can be found in clear, smokey and citrine quartz, and the colors of the rutile within the quartz can vary from gold, copper, silver, red and black, to everything in between. This gives the lapidary a broad pallet of colors. Not only does the rutile come in different colors, but the rutile crystal needle formations originate in different widths, lengths and patterns. The variety in rutilated quartz opens many possibilities to the design, both internal and external, for your faceted gemstone.

1. Rough rutilated quartz crystal