The copper-coloured needles running through the quartz are crystals of rutile—titanium dioxide. A trace of iron produces a tone that is neither gold nor red, but a muted, particular copper.

Rutile crystallises before the quartz. The needles existed first; the quartz grew around them later. An inclusion, yet older than its host. The visual hierarchy and the chronological one run in opposite directions.

Primarily sourced from Brazil. Needle density, angle, and hue vary from crystal to crystal; no two share the same expression.