Named for their high content of the crystalline mineral quartz, quartzites appear in a wealth of colours and finishes. Tough, resilient and often very striking, some of the earliest humans used quartz-based stones to craft simple tools and arrowheads during the Stone Age. Choose from a wealth of different patterns, often with rich colour variation. Don’t confuse quartzite, naturally formed from pressurised sandstone, with engineered quartz, made from powdered rock and binding agents.