With regards to hardness, it is inferior only to royal diamonds. Quartzite
is one of the hardest and oldest rocks occuring on the Earth. Silica, the main
component of quartzite, as the element, constitutes about 1/3 of the mass of
our planet, but occurs mainly as sand. Quartzite occurs rarely in the form of a
block, which enables the acquisition of solids, blocks or slabs, therefore it
is unusually precious and sought after. Therapeutic and healing properties have
been attributed to it since the dawn of history. For thousands of years,
quartzite has been used in the most precious applications. The sarcophagi of
Egyptian pharaohs were, among other things, made of quartzite. Some researchers
ascribe the amazingly good state of the Egyptian mummies to the dry climate and
extraordinary properties of the quartzite sarcophagi.
