Que Sera is a trade name, and that is the first useful thing to say about it. There is no single mineral called que sera. What the name refers to is a mixed rock, mainly quartz with feldspar and a scatter of other minerals grown through it, that comes out of Brazil and reaches the market in polished points, towers and tumbled pieces. The name itself comes from the Spanish phrase "Que sera, sera" which means, "what will be, will be". 

The composition is why it looks the way it does. The quartz in it is often blue to lilac, and that shading sits in patches and bands. The feldspar comes up as paler cream and grey areas beside it, and the two together give the stone its speckled, softly mottled face. Blue quartz of this kind takes its tint from fine inclusions inside the crystal, and because the inclusions are uneven, no two pieces face up alike. Greyish-mauve is the norm. Stronger blue is not common in the material.

Because it is a mixed rock rather than a single mineral, it does not have one hardness. The quartz in it is seven. The feldspar is six, and some of the other material in the mix is softer again. Practically, that means the softer minerals weather first and the surface of a well-handled piece stays brighter where the quartz sits. It also means the "Que Sera" on a label tells you what the stone is called and not much about what it's made up of.

Traditionally associated with

There is no old tradition here. Que Sera arrived on the market late 2000's and early 2010's. 

In modern practice it gets grouped with quartz and kept on a shelf or a desk alongside other pieces. 

How I'd keep it

The mixed hardness is the thing to work around. Warm water and a little mild soap are fine for the quartz, but scrub hard and you will reach the softer minerals and dull the pattern. Rinse, dry it with a soft cloth rather than leaving it wet, and keep it clear of acids, bleach and household cleaners. 

It holds up well in light and will not fade. A point stands on a shelf or a desk and wants turning occasionally so the blue patches catch it.

What to watch for

Dyed material is the main risk with a stone that carries a colour this soft, and the test is the familiar one: dye sits in the cracks and hollows while colour that belongs to the stone runs through it. 

Genuine Que Sera is uneven, with cream and grey mixed into the blue, and a point that is one flat colour all over is unlikely to be it. It is also worth knowing that the name is applied loosely, so two sellers can be using it for material from different deposits. Neither is  wrong, but it is not a term that guarantees a source.

In the shop

The Que Sera Tower at £35 is the piece I carry, and it is a one-off, so the piece in the photograph is the one that arrives.

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