Rose Quartz Five-petal Flower Pendant

Rose quartz is the later name; the older one is hibiscus stone, and mineralogically it is a variety of quartz. Colours run from pale pink to peach, the stone is semi-translucent, and it usually carries cottony wisps and ice fractures. Where the fracturing is dense the stone stops passing light and looks white — that is how the material is, not a fault. Dyed rose quartz is too even in colour and has not a single wisp in it; I generally do not buy that. Natural pink varies, and across the five petals of one flower the colour can shift by half a shade.

Five petals, set in a ring around the centre. Each one lifts into a slight curve: from the front it is a flower, from the side it is a series of steps. The gaps between petals are kept narrow — widen them and the flower reads as scattered. There is no stone at the centre, just a small polished dome; light landing on it gives a single point of brightness, a cleaner solution than bedding a rhinestone. The tips are rounded rather than pointed, so they do not catch on clothing. All five are the same size, and the piece is thickest at the heart, thinning gradually toward the tips — that taper is ground in, not cast.

The back is flat, so it lies against skin without pressing. The temptation with a flower pendant is to carve the reverse as well; that digs in, and when the piece turns over it catches hair. The bail sits at the very top, and the hole is not large — a fine chain suits it, while a thick one would tip the flower forward. The whole piece is thin. Tucked inside a collar, it does not announce itself.

The trade has tied rose quartz to romance for years. That is sales talk. I will speak only about the stone: the pink is light, it flatters skin, and it works with off-white, pale grey and dusty rose, while a strong red will overpower it. If your skin runs yellow, choose the peach-leaning pink; a very pale one makes the back of the hand look yellower. In summer, with a camisole, a little pink at the collarbone outlasts a string of sequins.

Rose quartz dislikes sun. The colour is held by colour centres and fades under long exposure — an old weakness of the material, so do not leave it under a car window in summer. Take it off to shower; soap left in the crevices turns it dull. Store it in a pouch rather than loose with hard objects: quartz is not soft, and knocked against metal it will still chip. The gaps between petals collect dust; two dry strokes with a soft toothbrush is enough. Sweat does not trouble rose quartz. Perfume does — spray away from the flower, because alcohol dries the surface.