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EducationStar Quartz/s?

14th Nov 2017 06:55 UTCTheodore Hansen Theo

so I got this nice big chunk of what this lady called "girason quartz" but when I did some reasearch tonight I read somthing that said there is such a thing as "white star quartz" that displays asterism...is this true? is star quartz not only pink but white too!? I need an answer to figure this mystery out! im both excited and confused at this! any help is welcome!

14th Nov 2017 11:56 UTCDebbie Woolf Manager

I think you mean girasol quartz which is a marketing term for quartz same as star quartz another marketing term due to its properties, star quartz is also known for quartz crystals with hollandite inclusion, popular terms for selling :-)

Here's a good article http://www.ebay.co.uk/gds/Girasol-Blue-Opal-Girasol-Quartz-Confusion-Explained-/10000000019653178/g.html

14th Nov 2017 18:00 UTCMark Heintzelman 🌟 Expert

to add to the issue, the mindat definition of "star quartz" , and the one I'm also more familiar with, refers to the shape of crystal grouping/formation, not the presence of asterism. https://www.mindat.org/min-398.html

We can't regulate the name dealers chose to sell there wares by, but we can at least avoid using contradictory terms ourselves. It's quartz that exhibits asterism, not "star quartz".

14th Nov 2017 18:51 UTCOwen Lewis

Star quartz,Mark.

Think of 'star' as an adjective modifying the noun 'quartz' to indicate that the occasional phenomenon of asterism is present in some quartz specimen being described. Only someone not understanding how words work together would insist that star quartz was a name (and hence a compound noun).

If you think that is dancing on the head of pin, well, yes it is. But let's keep to a handy four-character description rather than chasing after a very unhandy twenty-three character one, hey?

14th Nov 2017 19:10 UTCMark Heintzelman 🌟 Expert

Nothing in nomenclature, outside IMA protocol, is enforceable. All Mindat can offer outside official IMA nomenclature is "recommend use" of terminology. Owen at least offers an example that the effort with this is little more than building sandcastles to hold back the sea. People are free to do whatever they like in the Gem and Lapidary realm, and it shows.

14th Nov 2017 19:35 UTCWayne Corwin

Should just be called "asterated quartz" then!

14th Nov 2017 20:52 UTCOwen Lewis

Wayne Corwin Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Should just be called "asterated quartz" then!

Wayne,

I'll see your nine char 'asterated' and raise you with a seven char 'starred'.

Now, before I go outside and shoot myself, will some kind person please show me in what way any of these polysyllabic work-arounds say, in context, any more or better than plain and simple 'star'. Isn't it amazing how many find the illusion of greater knowledge imparted by use of words with Latin roots?

2nd Dec 2017 19:45 UTCGary Weinstein

So I guess gem dealers should stop referring to star sapphire and star ruby and star garnet et cetera. Asteriated Sapphire sounds so romantic, doesn't it? There is always much confusion between mineralogical names and gemological names, which have been used for marketing, as I am sure you would do also if you want to sell the stuff you dug up. The general public, who you are going to find are your buyers, will be more apt to purchase Rubillite rather than Elbaite. Also keep in mind that these things have been going on for many decades and are now in common usage in our lexicon.

2nd Dec 2017 21:34 UTCRalph S Bottrill 🌟 Manager

This is an area that Mindat generally doesn't handle well or consistently: informal variety names for unusual habits and textures ( eg. Try to find Cats eye chrysoberyl or Japan Law twins). The quartz page is mostly fantastic and lists most varieties, including Star quartz, but it's only described as ".. an aggregate of radiating crystals; not to be confused with the optical property "asterism"." However in contrast we do have pages for star sapphire, etc. Also we show no photos under the name Star quartz, despite the fact we use the term star rose quartz etc in some photos for quartz with asterism, eg. https://www.mindat.org/photo-743426.html. It's hard to find images of quartz with stars, a keyword search of quartz photos mostly finds "star" in the locality name, plus words like startling, stark, people's names, etc., but rarely describes the habit or texture. Asterism works better, but is not commonly used. I really think if people are commonly using a term like Star quartz in different ways, for distinctive varieties, the variants should be listed here, preferably with photos and better descriptions .we have a page for Rose quartz noting it's two distinct materials, which seems OK, or we could have Star quartz (1) and Star quartz (2) pages. Either way, if people read about Star quartz and want to find out what it really is, we should provide the information here clearly, not let them try to find convoluted metaphysical descriptions on eBay etc.

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