Bead Dictionary Letter Q

Introduction

In the late 1990s, Penny Diamanti, Joyce Diamanti and Robert K. Liu started working on a Bead Dictionary. Around 2009, after much work by the Diamantis, the Bead Dictionary was posted on the Beadazzled website. Through the years, additions were made by Beadazzled. In the summer of 2018, when the Washington DC Beadazzled store and its website closed, the Bead Dictionary was offered to Ornament. This is a unique resource, especially rich for information on beads of ethnographic and ancient origins. As Ornament has only a staff of three, we are slowly reposting it on our website, updating or expanding some of the entries and are adding search features, links and references as time permits. The Bead Dictionary covers primarily beads and other perforated ornaments, but also tools and materials used by those who make jewelry utilizing beads. Photographs from the Ornament archives are being added, as well as new images taken expressly for the Bead Dictionary and others are being brought up to current standards, as many of these images are almost 30 years old. Original photography was by Robert K. Liu, while Cas Webber did additional photos for Beadazzled, noted in the captions as RKL or CW, after first captions.

This Dictionary of Beads is a labor of love and a work in progress. We welcome your comments and suggestions through the Contact link. To navigate, select from the visual index above to jump to the letter you want in the Dictionary, but give the page a little time to load first. To get back to the top and select another letter use the arrow button. We are continuously adding to the Dictionary, so check back often. 

To search for keywords in Dictionary headings, use your browser's search function; for example in Internet Explorer use Control+F and in Apple Command+F, then type in your keyword. We hope you enjoy this (not-so-tiny) treasure, and learn more about the vast world of Beads.

Quartz

The quartz family of minerals results from fusing the two most common elements on earth, oxygen and silicon. In the gemstone trade, the term usually refers to crystalline quartz, which forms large distinct crystals. Varieties include amethyst, aventurine, citrine, and tiger’s eye, as well as rose quartz, smoky quartz, and rock crystal, which is the purest form of quartz.

Microcrystalline quartz is slightly softer and is made up of crystals that are not visible to the naked eye; this group encompasses chalcedony, which is fibrous and includes agate and onyx, and jasper, which is distinguished by its granular structure.

Another category, known as amorphous quartz but better described as cryptocrystalline, comprises opals, which are still softer and structurally distinguished by their gel-like mass consisting of crystals so tiny that they have only recently been detected by electron microscopes.

Valued for its physical attributes since ancient times, quartz also has electrical and optical properties that have found many modern applications in audio equipment, optical instruments, watches, and computer chips. It is found worldwide.

Equally enduring is the lore about the psychic properties of quartz – that it is a repository and transmitter of energy, that it possesses healing powers, that it links the material world and other realms. Shamans in the earliest societies viewed quartz as a “live rock” that could cure the sick and bring back the souls of the departed. Today, New Age healers also credit crystals with restoring health and vigor and tuning them in to other worlds.

9/27/2009 : 9/27/2009 modified

See Also: Rock Crystal Amethyst