When most of us think of Madagascar, we imagine azure shores
offset by crisp, white sand. What most of us aren’t aware of is
that this is home to one of the most important mining sites of Rose
Quartz on the planet. Along with Brazil, it is responsible for some
of the finest quality stones in our jewellery today, making it
highly desirable and, of course, strikingly beautiful to look at in
any setting.
Known as the Love Stone or the Crystal of Unconditional Love,
this gemstone is found in its most natural state in Madagascar,
displaying a distinctively deep yet delicate pink colour straight
from the rock.
As a major historic source of the world’s Rose
Quartz, the island of Madagascar has been a significant and
fascinating place for geological studies. The coarse rock
formations known as pegmatites are formed when rising magma
crystallises. These are commonly packed with Rose Quartz and its
pink hue and are so prominent that they’re very easy to spot even
above ground.
The finest quality Madagascan Rose Quartz, however, is slightly
trickier to find and mine, so manual mining techniques are used to
retain its quality; of course, this means that it is one of the
most sought-after gemstones of the world.