Feature Gems & Gemology, Spring 1998, Vol. 34, No. 1

Russian Synthetic Pink Quartz

Vladimir S. Balitsky, Irina B. Makhina, Vadim I. Prygov, Anatolii A. Mar’in, Alexandr G. Emel’chenko, Emmanuel Fritsch, Shane F. McClure, Lu Taijing, Dino DeGhionno, John I. Koivula, and James E. Shigley

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Transparent crystals of facet-grade synthetic pink quartz, produced by hydrothermal growth from a fluoride solution and subsequent treatment, have been commercially available since 1994. The characteristic properties that distinguish this material from its natural counterpart are a tabular crystal morphology with two large, well-developed basal faces; color bands parallel to the basal faces and the seed plate; two-phase inclusions adjacent and perpendicular to the seed plate; and an intense broad band around 3420 cm-1 in the infrared spectrum. Color stability and cause of color in synthetic pink quartz are briefly discussed.