Tangerine Quartz, Meaning, Properties, and Facts

What is tangerine quartz

Tangerine quartz is quartz that grew in iron-rich water, which left a film or a scatter of iron oxide on and just under its faces. The orange belongs to the iron, not to the quartz: break a crystal and the inside is often clear. It is the same kind of iron staining collectors scrub off clear quartz with oxalic acid, left on because the color is good. The iron mineral is usually given as hematite, from the iron oxide family that colors red sandstone and the dust of Mars.

Tangerine quartz properties

Tangerine quartz properties are quartz properties with an iron oxide skin (quartz data on Mindat):

Where tangerine quartz is found

Tangerine quartz is found mostly in Brazil, in the quartz-mining state of Minas Gerais. Iron-stained quartz turns up in many places, but the bright, fairly even orange sold as tangerine quartz comes mainly from Brazilian mines.

Tangerine quartz vs citrine

Tangerine quartz and citrine are both orange quartz, but the color sits in different places. Citrine is colored through the whole crystal, by traces of iron or by heat treatment of amethyst. Tangerine quartz is clear quartz wearing an iron oxide coat, so its color is often patchy and can wear thin on edges. Hold a tangerine point to the light and you can often see clear quartz under an orange surface layer, while citrine glows evenly through.

How to tell if tangerine quartz is real

How to tell if tangerine quartz is real comes down to how the color sits: natural iron coatings are a little uneven and slightly matte, with clear quartz showing at chips. Dyed quartz pools bright color in cracks. A flawless, metallic orange shine is coated aura quartz, not tangerine quartz. Neither is a problem when it is labeled, and both are when they are not.

Tangerine quartz care: water and sun

Tangerine quartz care means protecting the coating, because the orange is only skin deep. Water is fine, and so is sunlight, since iron oxide does not fade. What removes the color is friction and acid, so skip scrubbing, abrasive pads, vinegar and rust removers, and pat it dry with a soft cloth.

Tangerine quartz price

Tangerine quartz price is modest next to rarer quartz, and it rises with an even, saturated orange, glassy faces under the coating, sharp undamaged tips and size. Points with bare patches or chipped tips cost less.

Tangerine quartz meaning and benefits

Tangerine quartz meaning and benefits, in crystal lore, are creativity and playfulness, ideas that come straight from the color orange. That is belief, not chemistry. It is a modern trade name with no folklore behind it, so the real story is the iron: a film from the same family of compounds as rust, grown onto the crystal underground.

Tangerine quartz for sale

Tangerine quartz for sale at geoslut arrives in drops of one-of-one pieces, each photographed in daylight and labeled with its mineral and locality, and the list hears first. See quartz for the current drop.

Tangerine Quartz FAQ

What is the difference between tangerine quartz and citrine?

The difference between tangerine quartz and citrine is where the color lives: citrine is orange all the way through, while tangerine quartz is clear quartz with an iron oxide coating.

Is tangerine quartz natural?

Tangerine quartz is natural when the orange is an iron oxide coating that formed in the ground; a bright, metallic orange is usually a lab coating.

Can tangerine quartz go in the sun?

Tangerine quartz can go in the sun: iron oxide does not fade, so light is not the risk, but scrubbing and acids are.

Is tangerine quartz water safe?

Tangerine quartz is water safe for a gentle rinse, but do not scrub it, because the orange coating can wear off.

Sources

• Quartz, Mindat
• Hematite, Mindat
• Hematite, Wikipedia