Rutile was first described in 1803 by Abraham Gottlob Werner and named from the Latin rutilus meaning red; its type locality is Horcajuelo de la Sierra, Spain.
With refractive indices of 2.613–2.909 at 589 nm and birefringence of 0.296, rutile has one of the highest refractive indices of any known crystal.
Synthetic rutile was sold as the diamond simulant 'Titania', but at about 6 on the Mohs scale it is too soft for most jewellery; Sierra Leone held about 30% of world rutile supply capacity by 2008.