At the recent Denver Mineral show in the wholesaler section I was
perusing for new and wonderful things. I saw strings of briolettes
that were called “pink quartz” that definitely didn’t look like rose
quartz. They were clear and sparkled. The price for the string was
also sparkley [wink - nudge]. Is there such a beast or is it
treated/enhanced clear quart?
I seek enlightenment oh wise ones.
Lisa
LL Fowler Designs
While quartz theoretically can be of any color, there is no
gemological test to separate lab-grown from natural, unless one can
see protogenic and epigenic inclusions characteristic of quartz
formation.
Buyer beware is a good rule to follow.
Leonid Surpin
There really is a “pink quartz” that is not the same as rose quartz.
It is uncommon, and seems to occur in small crystals in association
with larger smokey quartz crystals in granite pegmatites. Coromoto
Minerals has been mining in the Mount Mica pegmatite in Maine for
several years, and recently has published several photographs of
pink quartz crystals on their web site.
They do market their finds, so it is possible that the material you
saw came from Coromoto.
-Dick Davies
Hi
I don’t know if anyone answered, I was away…
If this is the same thing I bought a few months back (the dealer
referred to it as ‘pink topaz’) then these beads have a thin pink
coating. You can see the coating if you look closely at the hole of
the bead under magnification. I have had no trouble with them. I have
used them in a short necklace (which wouldn’t dangle down too much
and be subjected to knocking into things) and (I think) a pair of
earrings. The only thing I have found to be wrong with them is that
they don’t sell 
Maybe the color doesn’t look “real” enough to the
customer…I don’t know.
If they are the same, the price should not be that much higher than
other similar beads…shop around.
Kim Starbard
http://www.kimstarbarddesigns.com
Pink quartz is also coming from Kashmir near the famous sapphire
mines. I saw several kilos in one village 50 kilometers (3 days walk)
in the mountains.
However, most of the pink quartz I’ve seen in bead stores, and sold
from many vendors in Tuscson the past several years, is in fact
glass. You can see small bubbles with a loupe.
Ed