Rutilated Crystals

Rutilated quartz is a rock crystal containing fine inclusion needles of titanium dioxide. It has one of the highest reflective indices of any known mineral and exhibits high dispersion.

The titanium dioxide shards give the appearance of a frozen meteor shower with varied prismatic forms interspersed with tetragonal, hexagonal, and octahedral patterns.

These images, from a large unique Brazilian crystal, were photographed from deep within the sphere under varying light conditions.