Red Quartz

hi
I'm new to crystals and I only have a few. can anyone tell me about Red Quartz please?

last week I was in a new age shop and saw this palm size dark crystal in amongst the Rose Crystals. I asked the shop assistant what is was and she said it is Red Quartz but she didn't know anything about it. I hadn't heard of Red Quartz before but I couldn't put it down so I carried in my hand as I continued looking around in the shop.
I ended up buying it because I couldn't let it go. when I looked up Red Quartz online there doesn't seem to be much information about it.

I'd appreciate anything the more experienced people here can tell me.
thanks
lyn

To be truthful, I haven't had any personal experience with red quartz, but I've read a little about it. It's likely no more than you've already researched, though!

Red quartz is a natural quartz which contains inclusions such as hematite, giving the stone its reddish colour.

There are also lab-made variants, consisting of natural quartz heated up, with copper then added to produce a vibrant dark reddish-pink coloured stone. Sometimes, though, glass is used as a substitute for quartz -- so always double check which it is before you buy.

These stones can be known as strawberry quartz, cherry quartz, or watermelon quartz.

Hope that helps a little!

thank you Onion Budgie for your reply.
I think because, like you said, it can be classed as strawberry or tangerine or phantom etc its difficult to pin down the piece I bought.
depending on which description you go by it can assist with - energy to enjoy life, chronic fatigue, assisting in creativity etc.
so you can pick whatever you like basicaly. unless you are very experienced with crystals and can tell what properties the piece has.
anyway its all interesting and part of the learning.
thanks again
lyn

It's funny, because I was looking at a strawberry quartz skull on eBay only last week and thinking how lovely it was. If it had been a little more within my price range I might have bought it. That particular one was lab-made with copper.