Black Rutilated Quartz

"Black rutilated quartz" is a trade name for natural quartz containing dark, black-looking needles. Rutile itself can be greyish-black to black, but black needles in quartz are often tourmaline: a Chinese study found that the inclusions in market "black hair crystal" (黑髮晶) were mostly black tourmaline. A piece sold under this name may therefore contain rutile or tourmaline, and only testing of the inclusion can tell which.

Products made with this material

Category
Category
Color
Color

Colors are read from each product’s main photo.

Bead diameter (mm)
Bead diameter (mm)

Only round beads with a verified diameter. A product matches when its stated size range overlaps yours, limits included; a material matches when any of its round sizes does.

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Price (USD)
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Rutilated Quartz (black)
Rutilated Quartz (black)

8mm / 10mm

$9.99 Available

Full material guide
Material facts

What the material is, where it comes from or how it is made, identification and care, from the cited sources.

Properties

Material type Natural mineral: quartz with mineral inclusions (not a separate species)
Inclusions Dark needles: rutile (can be greyish-black to black) or, often, black tourmaline; varies by piece
Host mineral Quartz, SiO₂ (usually colourless rock crystal)
Mohs hardness (quartz host) 7
Specific gravity (quartz host) 2.65
Refractive index (quartz host) 1.544 to 1.553

Origins & sources

Rutilated quartz is found mainly in Brazil. Quartz with tourmaline needles (tourmalinated quartz) is recorded by Mindat from localities such as Minas Gerais, Brazil, and the PC Mine in Montana, USA; its photo records show it with schorl (black tourmaline).

Identification

Mindat separates tourmalinated quartz (quartz with tourmaline needles) from rutilated quartz (quartz with rutile needles), and rutile's recorded colours include greyish-black and black. Colour alone does not separate them; Raman spectroscopy does: rutile shows its strongest peaks near 445 and 600 cm⁻¹, while tourmaline gives a different set of peaks.

Care

The host is quartz, with a Mohs hardness of 7. JCK advises washing off dust before wiping the stone with a cloth, because dust of similar hardness can leave fine scratches that gradually dull the polish. The International Gem Society lists no special care instructions and no heat sensitivity for quartz.

History & culture

History

Not collected yet

Cultural meanings

Not collected yet

Traditional beliefs

Not collected yet

Sources

Collected Oct 23, 2026