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Fakes & FraudsMetamorphosis Quartz?

11th Aug 2007 18:12 UTCKristi Hugs

Yes, I know its a hooey name, what I want to know is what it is...really.

It looks like snow quartz or milky quartz but does anyone know why it is being called Metamorphosis Quartz?


here is a website that carries it, just want your opinions. thanks!!


http://www.exquisitecrystals.com/Metapmorphosis.shtml

11th Aug 2007 18:28 UTCDavid Von Bargen Manager

So they can charge $15.00 for a piece of quartz that is worth $.50 to $1.00

11th Aug 2007 18:31 UTCKristi Hugs

yup yup :) so what do you think it is? am i on target when I say snow or milky quartz you think?

11th Aug 2007 19:01 UTCDavid Von Bargen Manager

Yes, either milky quartz with some clear patches or a very poor grade of rock crystal (with lots of milky patches)

11th Aug 2007 23:32 UTCPete Nancarrow

Metamorphosis means "Change", and they are probably hoping people will part with some of their change to buy these very ordinary bits of quartz of the sort that anyone could find on thousands of mine dumps, or even simply as stream pebbles in the right terrain. (And some obviously are buying it, otherwise they wouldn't waste their time polishing and advertising it.)


It's just another marketing hype, a way of selling some rather turbid common quartz. Polish it up a bit, call it an exotic-sounding name people will not recognise, and they'll think it's something rare and pay more for it. It probably occurs as massive vein material, without good crystal terminations, and wouldn't sell if pitched alongside limpid rock crystal, amethyst etc. if it was correctly described simply as lumps of polished quartz. And if they can create a market for it, the supply of cheap source material is almost limitless.


Pete N.

12th Aug 2007 03:48 UTCsteven garza

kristi;

it's garbage.

steve

12th Aug 2007 03:52 UTCKristi Hugs

:) Yup

13th Aug 2007 14:38 UTCKarsten Eig

Pretty polished stuff, would be nice to have one as decoration. But the "metamorphosis" here is just the usual metaphysical fluff.


Since quartz is the second most common mineral in earth's crust, it would probably noty make the same marketing smash to say that it has been geologically metamorhosed!

14th Aug 2007 22:55 UTCColin Robinson

Steer clear of anything that has a quote from "Love is in the Earth" by Melody and, if you live in the UK, watch Richard Dawkins on Channel 4 on Monday night with a programme called The Enemies of Reason.

3rd Jun 2008 20:40 UTCKristi

I grabbed a piece today and you know what it looks like? Girasol!! or what some call titanium in quartz. it has almost a non-fiery opalized look to it. Doesn't get me any closer to what it really is, but I had to share!

3rd Jun 2008 21:54 UTCIan Jones Expert

i think it's what's technically known a a pebble!

3rd Jun 2008 22:08 UTCAmir Akhavan

Hi Kristi,


please forgive me, but what the h..k is "girasol"?

Is there any consistent definition, like something that more than one person agrees on?

I googled one definition saying it's some kind of hyalite, another one says it's an orange opal, another one says "opalized quartz" (however this is supposed to work - this is a worse term than "petrified rock"), and so on.


What you got looks like a fragment of hyalite (in the wider sense of the term, cololess opal) to me, could also be very pale rose quartz or translucent vein quartz.

To distinguish opal from quartz without relying on the nasty scratch tests or optical methods, you could simply measure its specific weight, but you need to work very exactly.

Opal: 1.9-2.5 (usually below 2.3), Quartz: 2.65


Cheers

Amir

3rd Jun 2008 23:34 UTCDebbie Woolf Manager

Girasol is clear Quartz with a white opalescence effect on the surface, usually comes as polished pebbles from Madagascar.

4th Jun 2008 03:40 UTCJim Bean 🌟

The (latest) pic looks like gemmy Madagascan rose quartz to me. Titanium used to be attributed to the rose coloring in rose quartz, but dumortierite is now believed to be the cause of the color.

Maybe that's how they worked titanium into what they called this stuff.

5th Jun 2008 12:40 UTCMark Gottlieb

Rub 3x counterclockwise and you turn into a giant roach?

19th Jun 2008 14:07 UTCTed Kepling

Not to be confused with Metaquartzite , a metamorphic rock of many colors . Sold as raspberry , strawberry Quartz . The metamorphic part almost never added to the quote . I`m not sure most people even know this . This metmorphosis quartz is not metaquartzite , I dont know what it is though .

2nd Jul 2008 06:04 UTCAlfredo Petrov Manager

Ted, if you carefully reread the first 5 posts on this thread, you'll know exactly what "metamorphosis quartz" is!

2nd Jul 2008 08:28 UTCHarjo Neutkens Manager

Hm, strange, girasol.......I know girasole is the Italian name for sunflower (tournesol in French; gira or tourne for turning, sole or sol for sun), didn't know that some nutcases somehow somewhere decided to name ordinary pieces of quartz or opal like that.

The real metamorphosis here is that the person who believes all this rubbish and buys it will enter a higher state of ignorance and the one selling this garbage a higher state of conmanship.

Believe me, people will buy anything, a famous Italian "Fluxus" artist in the sixties (Pietro Manzoni) once made a piece of art about this phenomenon.....he putt his own shit (literaly!!!) in a tincan, labled it saying "merda d'artista" and believe me or not, they went to famous collections and leading art galleries and musea all over the world and if you want to by a cann with his crap nowadays you'll have to pay a lot of money, go figure......

Here's a pic of the artist's shit, Sothebys sold one last year for 124.000 Euros!!


Cheers


Harjo (who is about to make a metamorphic cup of coffee to counter the effects imposed by the highly metamorphic wine from last night......)

21st Oct 2008 09:39 UTCAwenDawn

Thought you might enjoy this. Awen :)

http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2001AM/finalprogram/abstract_26002.htm


TEXTURAL FEATURES OF METAMORPHIC QUARTZ AS REVEALED BY SCANNED CATHODOLUMINESCENCE (SEM-CL): POTENTIAL USE IN PROVENANCE STUDIES

TENNISON, Evelyn1, SCHIEBER, Juergen1, and KRINSLEY, David2, (1) Geology, The Univ of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, geodork54@yahoo.com, (2) Geological Sciences, 1272 Univ of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1272

Monotonous under the petrographic microscope, quartz grains show a range of textural features when examined by SEM-CL. Preliminary studies have shown that quartz grains from different sources (volcanic, plutonic, metamorphic) differ in appearance when examined by SEM-CL. In this study, metamorphic source rocks, soils, and stream sediments from the Llano Uplift in Texas were surveyed for SEM-CL features, with the objective to ultimately use the results for provenance studies. The textures observed in the metamorphic rocks under study (schist and gneiss) include: (1) low to moderate intensity mottled/patchy CL with smooth gradients between areas of different intensity; (2) semi parallel bands/lineations of differing CL intensity; (3) cataclasic texture reflecting fragmentation and subsequent cementation/healing, and (4) low intensity (dark) lineations. Texture (1) is interpreted as a result of metamorphic annealing that obliterated pre-existing CL features; texture (2) is considered a reflection of slip/gliding during deformation at high pressures and temperatures; and deformation at somewhat lower P/T conditions deformation may have produced the fracturing seen in texture (3). Field relationships suggest that the dark lineations of texture (4) originated as fractures related to stress caused by granitic intrusions, and were healed with quartz deposited by hydrothermal fluids. These features survive without alteration into soils and stream sediments, but their recognition is grain-size dependent. Sand size or larger quartz grains typically allow identification of the metamorphic source, whereas at coarse silt size approximately 50% of the quartz grains can still be identified as metamorphic. At finer grain sizes the proportion of identifiable grains drops sharply. Because quartz is chemically and mechanically very resistant, as well as ubiquitous in most sediments, understanding SEM-CL features from different source rock types has the potential to greatly aid provenance determination.



GSA Annual Meeting, November 5-8, 2001

General Information for this Meeting

Session No. 30--Booth# 16

Stratigraphy (Posters) I: Silisiclastic

Hynes Convention Center: Hall D

1:30 PM-5:30 PM, Monday, November 5, 2001

21st Oct 2008 17:59 UTCRay Ladbury

P. T. Barnum said it best: "There's a sucker born every minute." However, this is now out of date. Assuming that the proportion of suckers has stayed the same as global population has increased, we can now conclude that there is a sucker born every 15 seconds or so.

26th Oct 2008 00:32 UTCMirabai

After doing some research, I agree with Debbie on the Girasol. Since I began buying stones several years ago, this material was introduced to me as Girasol and it is what I have always called it. I noticed several years later the same vendor was calling it Titanium Quartz and then last year he called it metamorphosis quartz. I suppose old material with a brand new name sells better :)

26th Oct 2008 18:37 UTCDonald Vaughn

reading that web sounds like something out of a dungeons and dragons game "used to immediately increase ones aura"

now I can defeat that level fifty mage who's got that azeztulite I need to defeat the level 60 dragon master who's powered by the melody stone. The only thing that is going to immediately increase is the size of the sellers pocket book .

5th Nov 2008 15:09 UTCDavid Kobliha

I have over 400kgs of this material in rough format in Brazil. It is natural and not that common to find. There were some nice cabochons made from it and selling at the Teofilo Otoni Stone fair this year in Brazil. I have may the rough into spheres, points, and skulls. Very nice material and very little inclusions in some pcs. Some of the rough material also came in shades and light smokey and light rose quartz (all natural).

22nd Feb 2009 15:05 UTCMarjorie

haha! You guys are funny...very funny conversation :)


In metaphysical circles (the sincere ones, not the idiots who are just renaming stuff and hyping it/marketing it) true metamorphosis quartz (which was highligted by Melody for its nice energy) comes only from Brazil. I am not a gemologist or a geologist yet (would love to get those degrees someday). The stones that I have, which are the real stuff from Brazil do have that same inner glow to them as the Madagascar Star Rose quartz. I am not familiar enough with Girasol to comment on that, but from your informed conversation above, it doesn't sound like girasol is a true mineral name but more of a slang catch all term for a few different stones.


As far as laughing at all people who believe that crystals carry energy and metaphysical properties...well, laughter is good for the heart and I don't think this hurts anyone. But I do offer you something to think about--I am an MD who loves crystals AND science. I also love the latest material we are learning in quantum physics that helps us understand how everything is connected (entanglement), everything is energy, and we are actually creating things as we go along (google the Copenhagen Experiment or read the book "The Field" by Lynn Mctaggert or watch What the Bleep do We Know if you want to understand more).


They laughed at Columbus as he sailed off telling him that he would fall off the earth guys. You just may be that same laughing crowd ;) Some of us understand a little more of what's up than others...but we all are exactly where we are supposed to be I guess.


"There is more in heaven and earth than is dreamt of in your philosophy..." --Shakespeare

22nd Feb 2009 15:11 UTCMarjorie

Oh, a quick PS : At the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show this year, there was a guy selling trademarked "2012 Quartz"...too funny! That is the kind of guy you are talking about, I know. These people even make those of us who understand that crystals have energy fall over laughing. If there is a trademark involved, I usually run the other way. How can you trademark what the earth gives us? People are silly!

22nd Feb 2009 17:02 UTCUwe Kolitsch Manager

Very tempted to close this thread...

22nd Feb 2009 19:15 UTCPeter Nancarrow 🌟 Expert

Uwe, I know where you are going with that thought, and I know comments such as "everything is energy" and references to "sincere metaphysics" are about as meaningful as pseudo-philosophical statements such as "infinity is all around you!", but before you do close this thread, I would just like to add that I have to agree with Marjorie on at least a couple of points:


1) I can highly recommend "The Field" by Lynne McTaggart, that Marjorie refers to above, and I think that anyone who is interested in one or more of quantum mechanics, psychology, or science fiction would enjoy it.


It is a very interesting example of a well-written dissertation that subtly wraps up ideas from the outer realms of real science with distorted perception and metaphysics in such a convoluted manner that the boundaries become very indistinct, and its cryptic irrationality could almost convince a true sceptic like myself, so it's not surprising that those who tend to believe in the paranormal would find it utterly convincing. I was about halfway through it before I began to wonder whether I was in fact reading a scientific masterpiece in the "Spinal Tap" mould. It does for quantum mechanics what Graham Hancock's writings do for Egyptology, and is on my bookshelves amongst the works of the Richards Dawkins & Feynman, Isaac Asimov, Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams and Immanuel Velikovsky (but closer to the latter end of the shelf).


And point 2) ? Oh yes - people are indeed silly.


Pete N.


PS Apologies to the OP; I know this is way off-topic, and nothing to do with "Metamorphosis Quartz", but some things need to be countered.

23rd Feb 2009 15:15 UTCMark Gottlieb

An friend of mine purchased an expensive cabochon of "metamorphosis quartz" at Tucson this year. As far as I could tell it was simply a cabochon with a faden line running through it.

28th Oct 2009 21:37 UTCOwl Woman

It is sad to see folks who have no natural curiosity about the possibilty that these stories might be true. I am a member of the Society for Scientific Exploration. This is a group of Phd's who formed this organization so that they could study unexplained phenomena without "the world is flat" bunch ridiculing them. I have taken the time to search and question and to sort through the rubble for the fine grains of alchemical gold. I have only begun to fathom the mysteries that are there to be found. I am so excited to have found that my rock friends can awaken in my hands and radiate an amazing energy. Bet you didn't know that they are living beings. But be assured they will not reveal themselves to rock heads.


Sincerely

Renee

28th Oct 2009 22:51 UTCKyle Beucke 🌟

There are also Ph.D.'s who are creationists, but that doesn't mean that I believe in that too. When you "want" to believe in something, that doesn't give one iota of support for it. And the thing about sorting through all of the "bad data" to find that one little piece of evidence (or hearsay, or "lore"), while disregarding the rest, is what really bothers scientists.


I actually wonder if some of this crystal healing stuff may be related to OCD, as I have dealt with that in the past, and I think that it lends itself to "magical thinking."


Kyle

28th Oct 2009 23:21 UTCAnonymous User

"There are also Ph.D.'s who are creationists, but that doesn't mean that I believe in that too. When you "want" to believe in something, that doesn't give one iota of support for it. And the thing about sorting through all of the "bad data" to find that one little piece of evidence (or hearsay, or "lore"winking smiley, while disregarding the rest, is what really bothers scientists. "


Well said :)


Just because someone has a PhD doesn't mean they have common sense or know how science works.


Common sense and proper use of the scientific method must be used in all regions of scientific inquiry, sadly some people just don't get it and squint until they see some "evidence" that they think corroborates their hypotheses. Science is based on skepticism, not belief.


As for crystals being magical, that's just cosmik debris (if you don't know what that means; Frank Zappa 1974).

29th Oct 2009 11:52 UTCRock Currier Expert

Owl Woman,

Are you a PhD? If so what is your degree in and where did you receive it. What kind of amazing energy to your rocks radiate? They are rocks and not minerals, is that correct?

29th Oct 2009 12:08 UTCJolyon Ralph Founder

Never ascribe to stupidity that which can be adequately explained by trolling

30th Oct 2009 17:22 UTCBri Dragonne

While I do not begrudge someone for having beliefs that contradict mine, I do get quite sick of these marketing ploys from New Age profiteers.


If someone wants to say 'My rock friend awakens my third chakra and speaks to me in my dreams'...well, enjoy.


I like holding rocks and rockhunting.


I have a mid-level knowledge of minerals (Primarily gem minerals) and I appreciate minerals on many levels.


What I cannot stomach is that section (Amazingly large) of the New Age movement that links spirituality with how much money you spend.


Please, do NOT insult my intelligence.


This is not a debate about what stodgy science-types believe and what the enlightened New Ager's believe.


It's about people scamming other people out of money by selling low-grade material that they buy for $1 a kilo, saying that feeling it gives them an inner light of angelic visions and then selling it for $144 a pound, or about 290x what they paid for it.


Why not sell it for $2 a kilo and double their money?


Instead of being greedy and selling it for $144 a pound?


Is this enlightenment?


So, don't try to make this a disagreement about believers and non believers Owl Woman and Marjorie.


Most people on this board are not likely appalled by the fact that someone has New Age beliefs.


Where the real indignation comes from is seeing this kind of scam go on year after year after year.


How do you equate our supposed ignorance with our annoyance at this kind of scam?


It's a scam, not because of the ideas behind this kind of item, but because it's someone ripping off someone else by selling them $1 a kilo material for $144 a pound.


Pure and simple.

30th Oct 2009 18:26 UTCDon Saathoff Expert

RIGHT ON BRI...!!!!!!


Don S.

30th Oct 2009 19:18 UTCSergey Sayamov

OwlWoman,

Why not trying to take pure metallic plutonium... It not only radiate an amazing amount of energy, it also warms the hands :)

Sorry :)

1st Nov 2009 02:48 UTCJamey Swisher

Girasol quartz comes from Madagascar or Brazil, I can not remember anymore sorry, it is so named after the Girasol Opal which it looks quite a bit like. It has an internal glow like rose quartz or girasol opal does. Some of it even exhibits an asterism(star). The stuff referred to as Girasol Quartz is the stuff with a sort of blusih glow to it like the opal. There is another type I have seen that exhibits more of a golden glow as well. I believe that technically it is just a white/milky quartz that is transparent and not opaque or translucent. The stuff that exhibits the asterism is really beautiful!! Truthfully it all is, the regualr stuff with just the bluish glow looks amazingly beautiful when it is faceted!! It is often sold on Ebay by unscrupulous dealers as Girasol Opal. The confusion is to me, I was always taught that the clear opal with the bluish glow was jelly or water opal, and that Girasol opal was yellow or orange opal where the play of color followed the light source as it was turned.


But either way, that is what they are referring to as Girasol Quartz. It is merely a transparent to semi-transparent form of milky quartz that has some sort of microscopic silk/schiller that causes a bluish glow and/or asterism.


In the gemstone trade, it is called Girasol Quartz, named after the opal of similar appearance.

1st Nov 2009 09:36 UTCBri Dragonne

Hi Jamey.


I tend to think of 'Girasol Quartz' as extremely pale Rose Quartz.


I would guess that the 'Girasol' effect is due to the interference of light by microscopic crystals of something, probably Dumortierite. That is, breaking up the light into a sort of soft, colourless glowy effect.


Which is exactly the same as you get from the translucent Rose Quartz from Madagascar, only paler.


That being said, I think a great deal of the so-called 'Girasol Quartz' is actually just slightly milky Quartz.


And almost all of the 'Girasol Opal' that I've seen is actually either glass (Also called 'Opalite' :S) or Rose Quartz (Usually the paler kind.)

2nd Nov 2009 06:46 UTCJamey Swisher

Not quite sure, the material I have seen is completely clear, transparent to semi-transparent, has a blue glow/sheen to it, reminds one a lot of the blue sheen moonstone only much more translucent. It looks just like Girasol or Water Opal. I have never seen any that doesn't exhibit a strong blue glow, so it couldn't just be milky quartz, there has to be something else going on. It reminds me of a clear/white version of the Rose Quartz from the Hog Mine in GA except the glow is blue. If someone is calling lighter milky quartz with no blue sheen/glow and no asterism, Girasol Quartz then they are taking people for even more of a ride, lol. I believe at one time the TV shows were even calling this Girasol Quartz stuff blue moon quartz or something like that, lol. Seems whatever it takes to make a buck. I stuck with the Girasol Quartz name simply because of the Opal it looks like, perfect trade name for faceted/jewelry products IMHO.

5th Feb 2011 06:42 UTCLex

Girasol is girasol, and it is a type of opal.

25th Mar 2023 00:30 UTCDavid Russo

04171980017056255207268.jpg
Alright so I get stuff is funny business but what about this lavender/rose quartz I find in the ground raw? Everybody is telling me it's girisol or whatever or opalized quartz 

20th Apr 2023 20:34 UTCSuzanne Cook2

Are you digging this out of your backyard? How large are the crystals?

25th Mar 2023 13:57 UTCEd Clopton 🌟 Expert

Looks to me like rose quartz that would make nice windowsill stones and decent beads and other lapidary items.  If attaching a name like "girasol" helps to sell it, fine.  (Girasol means 'sunflower', by the way, from gira, to rotate, and sol, sun, from the way a sunflower turns to follow the sun.)  Structurally I doubt that it has anything to do with opal; the milky or opalescent appearance is probably due to the inclusions (usually assumed to be dumortierite or something similar) that impart the rosy color.
 
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