Wondering if your rose quartz is real?

You’re in the right place. In this Learning Guide, I’ll answer the following about this light pink stone:

• What is Rose Quartz Good For?
• What is Fake Rose Quartz?
• Are Treated Crystals Fake Crystals?

How to Tell if Rose Quartz is Real?

What is Real Rose Quartz?

Rose quartz is the light pink variety of the quartz family. There are many other members of this family, including amethyst and citrine.

Quartz comes in many different colors and is found all over the world. Currently, Brazil is the most popular. They can also be found in the United States, Sweden, Namibia, and Madagascar.

This amazing crystal is best known for its healing properties. It’s the gemstone of love. Rose quartz is associated with the Heart chakra. It is said to be able to open your heart to receiving love and healing broken hearts. It promotes all love, including self love too. It is a stone of calming and positivity.

Heat Treated Rose Quartz Crystal

Heat treated crystals as still real crystals. Dyed quartz is real, but not desired. Untreated rose quartz is common. If the rose quartz is dyed, it usually has a much brighter shade.

And watch out for trade names! Some gemstones go under misleading trade names and other have known and accepted trade names. Trade names for rose quartz include pink quartz and strawberry quartz. It can be calle melon moonstone, but it’s not a moonstone at all. This is a misleading name.

What is Fake Rose Quartz?

A fake rose quartz crystal is any material claiming to be rose quartz when it’s not. Gem imitations can be manmade or they can be other natural gemstones. Some may be labeled as imitations, while others attempt to deceive.

Glass is the most common imitation for rose quartz crystals. Polymer clay is also very popular as manmade imitation pieces. People often craft them with bits of gold resin and white swirls to give it a marbling effect.

The difference between a genuine seller and a scam seller is if they are candid in their descriptions. The polymer clay earrings above are clearly labeled “faux rose quartz”. This is an honest seller. If they were claiming to be genuine rose quartz, that’s a scam. People aren’t scammers because they sell fake stones. It’s whether or not they disclose them.

Read also: Most Popular Simulated Diamonds

You shouldn’t be too worried about running into a faux rose quartz stone. The stone is very affordable for large pieces. There’s no real reason to try to deceive someone. But just in case you do, we have this handy little guide.

The Difference Between Real Rose Quartz and Fake Crystals

There’s a few ways you can identify a real rose quartz crystal from a fake rose quartz crystal. You won’t need any fancy equipment either. There are some ways to identify other natural crystals that don’t work with rose quartz crystals.

You can’t tell if you have a fake rose quartz on your hands if you go by price. Natural quartz is a very common and affordable stone. A natural rose quartz goes for around $14 per carat, or less.

Likewise, the size won’t tell you if rose quartz is real. It’s not unheard of to find real rose quartz in large sizes. They’ll certainly cost more than tumbled stones, but those are mainly collector’s specimens.

Colors & Patterns

Looking at the stone carefully is the best place to start when learning how to tell if rose quartz is real. The details shift based on which form of the crystal you have. Rose quartz stones can be any random shape. You can buy it in rough, faceted, carved, and polished cabochons.

credited: James St. John

A rough rose quartz crystal isn’t perfectly symmetrical. The shape and patterns are very fluid. A fake rose quartz may have a perfect shape it its rough form. It may also have different shades of pink with distinct lines separating colors.

A rose quartz found in nature should be barely pink to a medium pink. Most material lies right between soft pink. If the stone is vivid bright pink, it’s probably a fake stone. If it’s just barely pink, you’ll have to decide if it’s pink enough for you. It could likely be clear quartz being sold as rose.

Inclusions

You can tell a lot of about the crystals by their inclusions. Inclusions are described as natural imperfections in gemstones. They have everything to do with the overall clarity of your gemstone. An inclusion can be natural or manmade. Majority of real crystals have natural inclusions.

Read also: How to Tell If Emerald is Real

A rose quartz stone is no different. You might need a magnifying glass for smaller rose quartz stones.

Temperature

You’d need some gem equipment if you wanted to get technical with the temperature of a rose quartz crystal.

Don’t worry, there’s no need. A real rose quartz will feel cool to the touch in comparison to a glass fake crystal.

All genuine crystals will get a little warm when held. Some of them instantly return back to the cooler temperature once let go. Others it takes a little longer. A rose quartz crystal should return to its cool state. Glass takes longer. It’s “cool state” is still warmer than any quartz crystal.

Weight

The weight of real rose quartz can indicate if you carry authentic crystals. Natural rose quartz has a higher density than glass. There should be a heaviness between comparing the two. It’s not a huge distinction, but you’ll notice it. Glass is weighs lighter than a real rose quartz.

Moh’s Hardness Scale

The mineral scale of hardness is the most popular way of distinguishing gemstones. Unfortunately, many misrepresent the scale. The hardness scale tells us how well the stone holds up to everyday scratches and dirt.

It’s different from accidental bumps or drops. There’s all sorts of dust and dirt particles in the air. The particles affect the crystals and gemstones on our fingers the most. All stones have to do is exist and they can get damaged over time.

Image by the National Park Service. Public Domain.

Quartz crystals have a good hardness rating. It hits a 7 on the Mohs scale. Glass is at a 5-6. If the hardness is lower, the stone is more durable. The hardest minerals in the world are diamonds, which reach a 10.

You have to perform the Scratch Test to determine if your rose quartz is real or fake. This is the most reliable test to separate the true crystals from the fake crystals. You should attempt to scratch your rose quartz stone.

But Juli, won’t that damage it?

Not if your rose quartz is real.

Glass will scratch glass. They have an equal hardness. If you try to scratch a genuine rose quartz crystal with glass, nothing will happen. It’s more likely to be a genuine quartz stone.

Read also: Ways to Test Your Diamond

Conclusion

It’s important to know how to tell if rose quartz is real if you’re wanting to add this stone to your collection. However, you shouldn’t be too wary about running into fakes. Most fake rose quartz is rose colored glass, light pink cubic zirconia, or white quartz treated with rose colored dye.

There’s a few different ways you can tell if you have real rose quartz. You should perform all of these tests, not just pick one.

The Mohs hardness scale is the best way to assess this. You can also tell by the surface texture, air bubbles, weight, temperature. The easiest way is to just observe the stone for any indications.

It’s not difficult to find real rose quartz because of its cost and how common the mineral is. So if you’re still worried, don’t be. You’ll more than likely come across 50 real ones before you ever see a fake.