Something New…or…Just Different

Rutile. Have you heard of it?

Rutile is a titanium oxide mineral found in rocks throughout the world. But interesting to me, it occurs as needle-shaped crystals in minerals and gemstones. These needles appear black or reddish-brown and sometimes golden in color. The needles might be short or long and slender and appear to be woven tightly together. The Rutile needles can be found in quartz, garnet, corundum, and andalusite. Being visible in many gems, like the quartz, they produce attractive and interesting novelty pieces.

Networks of these needle-shaped crystals produce the “eyes” or “stars” in many gems, such as the corundum gemstones, Star Ruby or Star Sapphire. In the Ruby or Sapphire, the rutile crystal properly cut cabochon produces the star-of-light, either a six- or eight-point star, and very rarely a 12-point star. Sometimes these crystals form a straight line in the gems and are known as “cats-eye.”

The Star of India is the most famous Star gemstone housed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The Star of India is 563.35 carats with a perfectly centered star and is the world’s largest gem-quality blue star sapphire. It is almost flawless and unusual in that it has stars on both sides of the stone. It is believed to have been discovered over 300 years ago in Sri Lanka.

An interesting side note. On October 29 in 1964, the Star of India was stolen from the museum, along with more than 20 other precious gemstones and diamonds. The story is told that three thieves unlocked a bathroom window during museum open hours, came back, and climbed in that night. They found that the sapphire was the only gem protected by an alarm in the collection. The battery on the alarm was dead. Fortunately, within two days, the men were arrested. A few days later, one of the thieves led the police to a locker in a bus station in Miami, where the Star of India and some of the other stolen gemstones were recovered.

Now back to the Rutile. In a quartz crystal, many times, the color of the rutile needles are a golden hue as seen in the picture above. When the needles are present in intersecting groups, it is called silk. Many of these quartz crystals are found in Spain, Australia, Russia, India, Madagascar and Brazil. Since the particles vary in hue, form, and thickness, every Rutile Quartz gemstone is distinct.

It is said that a Rutile Quartz relieves fears, phobias, and anxiety and aids in reducing exhaustion and lack of energy. Hmmm…

We have one Rutile Quartz Ring (SKU: AR032208) that is very special. We also have a small Star Sapphire (SKU: OR91560)and two Star Ruby rings(SKU: OR91639 and SKU: OR916104). You can search the items below by putting the SKU number in the search box.

And don’t forget to visit us at the Shop Thursday and Friday from 11 AM to 6 PM. You can also schedule a private appointment by texting or calling 903-654-1319. Visit online at www.gemsofjaipur.shop.