Crystals are formed when atoms come together and form a uniform cluster. The process can take anywhere from a few days to thousands of years, depending on the size and type of crystal. Natural crystals that come from Earth form in the same way, as they are created when the Earth's liquid consolidates and the temperature cools. Small-sized quartz crystals can form in as little as one day, while larger crystals may take months or even thousands of years to form.
Crystallography is the science that measures the crystal structure of a crystal. These crystals can be colored with modern heat treatment of certain types of amethyst crystals found naturally in igneous rocks. The most common bright crystals are well-formed cubic crystals of fluorite, calenohedral, prismatic calcite, apatite, corundum (ruby and sapphire), aragonite, scheelite and selenite, gypsum. Rutilated quartz crystals are the answer if you're looking for quartz crystals with golden-yellow needle-shaped rutile inclusions.
Crystals that are perfectly crystallized minerals can also produce different color glows under UV light. These ghostly layers form over hundreds of years inside a crystal due to the rest of the hot water solutions trapped inside the cavities of the preformed glass. The size of crystals found in rocks usually range from a fraction of a millimeter to several centimeters in diameter, although exceptionally large crystals are occasionally found. For example, selenite crystals larger than 10 meters have been discovered in the Cueva de los Cristales in Naica, Mexico. The process that forms quartz crystals is very complex and requires immense pressure to form these crystals over the years.
Under the old Garbage In %3D Garbage Out rule, a crystal structure is only as good as the glass used for data collection. Small holes reduce the maximum resolution at which the crystal is diffracted, while larger holes destroy the glass.
