Abstract: Objective Rock crystal is a rare non-metal and one of the gemstones. Because of its great transparency, piezoelectricity, spinning, compression resistance, acid and alkali resistance as well as small coefficient of linear expansion, rock crystal is widely used in military, semiconductor, communication, optical instruments, handicrafts and many other fields. Methods By collecting and summarizing the previous research data, this paper studies the distribution of rock crystal resources, the characteristics of rock crystal deposit types and the applications of rock crystal. Results The world's crystal deposits are mainly distributed in Brazil, with a total of 15.56 million tons of crystal resources, accounting for 90% of the world, in addition to Madagascar and Uruguay also have a certain amount of high-grade crystal reserves. China's crystal mineral resource endowment is poor, with piezoelectric crystal reserves of 18697kg, smelting crystal reserves of 418.70t, and process crystal reserves of 52kg, and the number of reserves is low. China's crystal deposits are mainly distributed in Guangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu and other places. Crystal deposits can be divided into two types: endogenic and exogenic, of which endogenic deposits can be divided into pegatite type, hydrothermal type and skarn type, and exogenic deposits are mainly placer type, which can be divided into residue-slope type and slope-alluvial type. Conclusions Based on previous research data, although synthetic rock crystal technology has been quite mature, the natural rock crystal still has an important development and utilization of significance, need to take a series of measures to protect resources. Many regions in China have large potential for finding minerals, especially the eastern coastal areas located in the Dabie-Sulu UHP metamorphic belt. Overseas Brazil and Uruguay, which are located on the PFBP, also have great potential for finding rock crystals.