Cherry "Quartz" from Rings & Things: When cherry quartz first come onto the market (20 or so years ago), most of us in the bead and jewelry trade believed it was a genuine gemstone. When we couldn't find much history for this "gemstone", we took a closer look and discovered little bubbles and other inclusions of the type you find in glass, not gemstones. That's when we realized this pretty new "quartz" on the market was actually a lovely swirled and speckled glass, that was cut, faceted and drilled just like gemstone beads. It fell out of favor for a while, but we still like it, and will try to carry it again when we can find this pretty pink glass "stone".
