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Magazine 58F
A jewel second-hand crystal... rock or crystal glass?
Rock crystal or crystal glass on a vintage piece of jewelry?
It is sometimes difficult to differentiate between crystal and rock crystal. However, many elements diverge between them.
Rock crystal
Rock crystal or colorless quartz is, as its name suggests, from the quartz family, like amethysts, citrines or rose quartz. Used since Antiquity, this mineral species is very widespread. Particularly present in Brazil, Madagascar and the United States, it is very appreciated in lithotherapy: its properties differ from other stones in this family and it would have numerous therapeutic and esoteric virtues, to cure physical but also psychological ailments.
Used in jewelry, it is generally found in the form of a cabochon, pearl or brilliant. Its success is mainly due to its strength and purity, allowing it to be cut in many ways. Its color can vary from white to crystal clear, making it very easy to match with different types of materials. For example, it will be perfectly enhanced by yellow, white or even pink gold!
The crystal
Crystal, also called mineral glass, is a material discovered in England in the 17th century by Stephen Falango. It is a type of glass composed of potash, silica and lead oxide. This last component is very important because it is mainly what brings its shine and its very particular sound to the crystal, thus differentiating it from glass. The name "crystal" being protected in many countries, the material must contain at least 24% lead and have a certain refractive index to be considered as such. This term is also misleading because crystal does not have in reality no crystal structure.The transparency and finesse of crystal are highly appreciated for the manufacture of glasses, carafes or even vases, particularly by large houses such as Lalique For example. But when it comes to jewelry, rock crystal steals the show...
Among all our jewelry second-hand in quartz, find those in rock crystal!