Have you ever seen the HSBC billboard at an airport where they show a picture of an item or an experience and describe how two different people could view the image. One reads “pleasure or pain” while another says “enjoyment or chore”. Then we have the Marmite advert “love it or hate it”. Well Medusa Quartz is a gemstone that could easily be advertised in the same way.
It has the appearance of moss like patches within the stone intermingled with turquoise coloured, irregular spot-like inclusions caused by the presence of Gilalite. To make matters worse it is often very cloudy and banded. However, it is very rare (some would say that this is a blessing).
For those that love the gem, they will point out to you that it has been mined in the same region in Brazil where Paraiba Tourmaline was first discovered and they will therefore argue that it should be known as Paraiba Quartz. Others that hate it will tell you how sorry they feel for the miners in the region who have searched for years for another Paraiba-like discovery only to unearth Medusa Quartz. So if it’s not a pretty mineral, how is it classed as a gemstone I hear you ask. Well, like the Marmite advert says “you either love it or hate it”.
First discovered in August 2004, under a loupe you can often find inclusions that look similar to shape to a certain jellyfish known as the “Medusas Rondeau”.
I confess to having several pieces in my personal collection, more for intrigue than for its appearance and as we speak we have several pieces available in stock at GemCollector.com. At present we don’t intend to set it in our beautiful jewellery designs, but as always will wait to see what feedback we get from customers.
