Red Phantom Quartz

A phantom forms when minerals settle on a growing crystal for a time and are later enclosed as growth resumes (The Quartz Page). Hematite forms in many environments under oxidizing conditions, mostly at medium temperatures, and is red in fine aggregates and thin crystals; The Quartz Page illustrates a hematite phantom that precipitated on the faces of quartz from the Orange River in southern Namibia. The retailer Pascle gives Brazil as the main source of its material.

In a true phantom the inner "ghost" crystal has the same axis as its host. GIA (Gems & Gemology, 2020) described imitation phantom quartz made by laser engraving natural rock crystal: the "phantom" consisted of regular networks of tiny cracks, its orientation did not match the crystal's optic axis in a polariscope, and the cracks seemed to reduce the stone's toughness; such imitations are readily identified with a microscope and polariscope. Mindat notes that a sharp change in colour or opacity can also look like a phantom without any mineral layer. The Quartz Page notes that red inclusions in quartz once called lepidocrocite have been found to be hematite.

IGS lists no special care instructions for quartz. The retailer Pascle advises not leaving it wet and wiping it gently with a soft cloth when dirty.

The retailer Pascle says phantom quartz is regarded as a symbol of growth and progress, and that red phantom quartz is associated with vitality and is kept as a charm for fertility and safe childbirth. Pascle also says it is called "Aka-Fuji" (red Fuji), after the rare reddening of Mount Fuji at sunrise, which is considered very auspicious in Japan. These are retailer beliefs, not verified properties.