Lemon quartz sphere

samantha

I saw a lemon quartz sphere in a shop here last week. It was a very pale lemon, about 6cm in diameter and completely clear (like crystal). The shop keeper wanted an astounding (I thought) amount for it - about 750 US Dollars (the price tag was on the item, so not a figure made up on the spot, though it could well be a rip off anyway.) Apart from the price no written guarantee that it is what it says it is. (Though it was very beautiful and caught my eye immediately.)

I have bought items from this shop before, and so far they have been genuine and not so expensive. A language barrier prevented me from getting to the bottom of why this particular sphere was so expensive, apart from the shop keeper pointing out how clear it was compared to anything else he had.

I tried to google something similar on the net, to try and figure out a reasonable price, but so far can't come up with any matches.

If anyone here knows what the going price would be, or a site that sells them, I would be most grateful.
 

shelikes2read

Holy Empty Wallets, Batman!!! My instinct is to respond that no quartz should cost that kind of money. Quartz (silicone dioxide) is one of the most common materials on earth. I wonder why the shopkeeper has decided to charge that much for a modest sized sphere?

One thing I would do is research Lemon Quartz. Many fruit-named "quartzes" are manmade glass. Cherry Quartz is an example. So I would google any type of quartz whose name I didn't recognize, to get a rundown on its origin.

The bigger a sphere is, the more I will be inclined to think it is man-made if it is visually free of inclusions. Mother nature very INfrequently produces large, inclusion-free stones. Most big stones will have veils, inclusions, and/or color variations throughout the stone.

It does sound pretty, though. I do love spheres. :)
 

samantha

Thanks so much for that info ! :)

Ah! I has no idea that it was a manufactured stone - this explains why it was so perfect !! (Duhh !!)

Amethyst is one of my favourites, so interesting that this is one of it's components....

Yes, the price is ridiculous. I have no idea what the guy was thinking, unless he has been duped by someone else ? But given what I know about this city and it's *merchants* that seems unlikely! Anyway, he's never going to shift the thing at that price !


Im going to go back to the site now and take a longer browse :) Thanks again for posting !
 

Padma

a summary whiz through Etsy also brought up a ton of affordable lemon quartz :)
 

shelikes2read

Lemon Quartz reminds me that I saw some lovely faceted beads on one of my jewelry-supply sites yesterday labeled as "green amethyst". Well, we all know that amethyst isn't normally green, so my suspicion is that it's been treated in some way to MAKE it green. I'd be willing to bet that it was a process that's akin to turning it amethyst into lemon quartz.

The beads WERE pretty, I'll say that. But there are limits to how much I want to see humans alter a stone. Carving, faceting, and tumbling are one thing; I'm positive that every one of us has at least one stone that fits that description. Lab-grown stones are chemically identical to their natural counterparts, so any energies that those particular chemical compounds have, they have across the board. And I understand that there are certain stones that are normally human-altered as a matter of course. For example, most solid black onyx is dyed, agate is frequently dyed bright colors, and most turquoise is stabilized in some way because the regular stone is often too soft for use in jewelry.

So I understand all this. But when we start heat treating or irradiating stones to change their color, I start saying, "Let me see the stone in person so I can judge its energies for myself". I'm not happy about the heating of amethyst to create citrines, for example. These stones, unlike lemon-yellow natural citrine, are a brownish orange (or orangish brown) and dark in hue. I prefer natural citrine over the heated-amethyst faux citrine.

I had some commentary in the Aqua Aura Quartz thread, too, as that's a form of human-altered stone. It's worthwhile to investigate the stones in person when possible, because we'll know right away if those particular stones resonate with us.

P. S. The Lemon Quartz on Etsy is pretty. I can see why someone would gravitate toward the stone. I bet the sphere was stunning, especially if it was extra-clear.
 

Padma

In regard to green amethyst, you are thinking of Prasiolite - http://www.gemselect.com/other-info/green-amethyst.php and ETA you are right in your assumption as to how it may get that way!

In regard to citrines, some actually are naturally dark. I have a Madeira citrine that is a root-beer colour, shot through with red needles :) (because of how it was cut, the light fracturing through it appears to be red.) It's a lovely stone.

I really like the cheerful yellow of the lemon quartz, however! :) Though I have so many lemon-yellow citrines (it's my birthstone, or one of them) I never thought to get any lemon quartz.
 

stonesatiety

Years ago I bought a pear/tear-shaped, lemon quartz faceted top and bottom. I really like the look and feel of it. A jeweler I took it to looked to his helper when I took it in to see about a mount. "Ripped off" was the feeling I got. But I wasn't ripped off. The stone feels great and someday I plan to mount it on an agave didgeridoo I made. That's why the stone came.

In my case, inner guidance trumps all. If my knowing tells me it's for me and conditions allow it, I go with it. I have yet to be sorry I trusted. I saw a sphere online at a shop I trust at ten thousand dollars!!! It was clear quartz with perfectly curved white "hairs" spaced just right, an incredible sphere, and I've looked at many hundreds of them. The sphere was not for me--fortunately, since I am not weathly--but I felt it was well worth it for its unique beauty and its presence. Stones can do it all, and more. Any stone may easily turn out to be priceless once you get to know it.

Given all that, the asking price for the sphere is quite high.
 

stonesatiety

Lotus: I have all kinds of citrine as well, none of which looks like lemon quartz. Some citrine is so light you can hardly tell it's not clear. There is golden citrine, yellow citrine, dark as you mention, green-gold, etc., not to mention smoky citrine. I had one small heat-treated amethyst citrine gifted to me. Once I worked with it, I enjoyed it a lot. Surprise for me!
 

Padma

Stonesatiety: I just meant my citrines are cheerfully yellow :) lol! I agree - some are paler, some are darker.
 
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