What is Hydroquartz? Cherry Quartz? Pineapple Quartz??

I was looking around etsy tonight, and I saw a very pretty necklace made of a single briolette of "emerald hydroquartz" simply set on a sterling chain.  It was also quite expensive (well over $125), which probably leads buyers to believe that this is a gemstone, probably related to emerald or some sort of rare green quartz. Right?

NOT!!!  Hydroquartz is GLASS.  It's not a gemstone at all.  No matter what it's called, whenever the word "hydroquartz" is found, it's GLASS.  It's neither quartz nor emerald---just a very pretty green glass.

Emerald "Hydro Quartz" Briolettes (Glass)

What's really sad is that I googled "hydroquartz" which brought up 77,800 results, mostly for "hydro quartz" although whether one word or two, it's the same thing.  And the first result took me to a bead website that went into great detail (including diagrams!) about hydrothermic production of synthetic stones, such as emeralds and rubies, yakkity blah blah about hydrothermic this and that, as if it is related to Hydro Quartz.  (Also note:  the comments are closed on that site---always a bad sign.)  That's because it's totally FALSE---these "hydro quartz" stones are NOT created in the same manner that a created emerald or ruby are created.  Hydroquartz stones are NOT created gemstones!  That's a whole other matter, but not in the least bit related to hydroquartz.  Hydrothermic synthesis is a real thing---but not to make anything called "hydro quartz".  

Searching the google results further, I see other bloggers who tell of their disappointed tales of buying hydroquartz, only to find it is "some sort of man-made stone" with bubbles inside or some sort of "wavy" look to the stone, or in the case of a lapidary website, it was suggested that it's glass.  Ding Ding Ding!!  There it is.

Hydro quartz manufacturers came up with the name in order to confuse!  It sounds a lot like "enhydro quartz" which is a real quartz stone with naturally encapsulated water bubbles inside.  It's like a lot of manufacturers' names for things that don't mean anything---like "opalite" which is glass as well, and not any sort of opal.  And people are trying to twist the "hydro" into meaning it was produced in some sort of water environment, or like hydrothermic production----not so!!  Hydro Quartz appeared in the marketplace around 2000, and was clearly stated EVERYWHERE that it was "glass", but somehow, over the past 10-15 years (and especially within the last 5 years) these fraudulent names and claims have become the norm.

Or like "Cherry Quartz" and "Pineapple Quartz" (and some other lesser used "fruit" quartz names)---those are also just GLASS, not quartz at all.  Cherry "quartz" is made to look like the very lovely but rare genuine stone, strawberry quartz.  A large jewelry company in the US  has Cherry Quartz for sale ($46 for a tiny 6 x 9mm piece on a chain) as a "Healing Gem" that instructs the wearer that "Cherry quartz releases, stores, and regulates energy. It attracts love in all its forms."  Yeah, right, IT'S GLASS, and where would they come up with these "properties" for a glass pendant masquerading as a gemstone?  (Answer: they made it up.)   In the marketplace, lemon quartz IS a gemstone so that's another exception to the "fruity" names. Yet there is also "Lemon Hydro Quartz" which is glass. So confusing!  (And the confusion is done on purpose, sadly.)

From India - "Tanzanite Hydro Quartz-Glass"

If you look around the web, you'll find the actual GLASS manufacturers of  "hydro quartz" in India and other places, such as China.   It is actually called "Hydro Glass" in India.  FireMountainGems.com sells this glass as well, but they don't try to deceive anyone by calling it "hydro quartz" -- they call it "quartz" glass (with the quotes).  Thank you for the honesty, Fire Mountain Gems!!


So, just because everyone else is pretending that Hydro Quartz is a gemstone, or because a wholesaler claims it's not glass, that doesn't make it right for a seller---no matter how large or small---to continue misleading buyers. Do they think it's up to the buyer to discover that "Hydroquartz" is not a gemstone, so if they include that term in the description, they're not liable for fraud?  It's GLASS, it's not a gemstone, it's not precious,  it's not a synthesized gemstone, it's not a hydrothermically produced gemstone---it's GLASS that is colored to look like gemstones.  GLASS.  Opalite is glass, Cherry Quartz is glass, Pineapple Quartz is glass, Hydro Quartz is glass.  Period.  It should be clearly stated as glass, and not as a "gem".

Quartz is the second most abundant mineral on earth.  It ranges in color from clear, colorless "rock crystal" quartz, to pink rose quartz, amethyst, citrine, smoky quartz, chalcedony, agate, onyx, jasper, aventurine, prasiolite, carnelian, and many more varieties of quartz.  Genuine quartz is an abundant mineral that can be found in many countries including here in the US where they can be found as HUGE natural gem-quality crystals,  and there is no need to create man-made quartz for use in the jewelry industry---it is synthesized only for use in the electronics industry.

"Aquamarine" Hydro Quartz (glass)--6 pieces for $3.85!

Also note that these glass manufacturers, or wholesale sellers, are marketing these glass stones with names of precious gemstones, such as "Aquamarine Hydro Quartz", "Emerald Hydro Quartz", "London Blue Hydro Quartz" and "Rubellite Pink Hydro Quartz" and so forth, and for about $3.75 for SIX pieces---and that's retail, not even wholesale!  Aquamarine is a precious Beryl gemstone (as is Emerald), and of course London Blue is an expensive variety of semi-precious Topaz gemstones---not quartz at all.  Rubellite is bright pink tourmaline. So they aren't even trying to say these are "synthetic aquamarines" or "created Tanzanite" or "lab created tourmaline" or something---the very use of the term "hydro quartz" means it's GLASS.  Plain and simple.

Please don't be fooled!  And ask yourself, do you really want to do business with ANY seller that is trying to deceive?  Or who chooses to leave out the important fact that it's not just Hydroquartz, but is glass? Or at the very least, giving the benefit of a doubt, would you trust any seller that isn't savvy enough to even research the products that they sell??

Buyer beware!!

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UPDATE:  June, 2016

Since I wrote this post about 3 years ago, I've since written more about this "hydroquartz" here on my blog.  I have purchased several varieties of this "hydro" stone in many colors, from many different sellers----Paraiba hydro quartz, Pink Tourmaline hydroquartz, Sapphire hydroquartz, London Blue hydroquartz, and others, including several purple Amethyst hydroquartz stones.  I took these to a gemologist and had them tested, per the recommendation I got from someone at the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) who told me that it's possible that some of the hydroquartz may be manmade quartz, or glass, but only testing will confirm.

So these stones were tested, and as suspected, were glass (no crystal structure).  HOWEVER, one of the Amethyst hydroquartz stones actually WAS manmade quartz!  Amethyst is considered the premier quartz and although abundant in nature, fine quality Amethyst is expensive and is therefore worth it to synthesize it in a lab.

So SOMETIMES, but not often, hydro quartz can be actual quartz, particularly with purple quartz.  And sometimes, Amethyst that is manmade is being sold as natural!  So be very careful.

The only way to tell if something is glass or not is to have it tested.  But that said, I've never seen any other "hydro quartz" that is not glass.  But it is possible---although not likely.

I still say, be careful of buying and selling so-called "hydro quartz".  If you love the way something looks, by all means, buy it and wear it and love it!  But I don't sell anything I'm not sure of, and I'm not at all comfortable with buying or selling "hydroquartz".  

I've written more about this in my blog post here:
http://invoguejewelry.blogspot.com/2015/09/fyi-some-gemstones-that-arent-really.html