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Gallery 6 Quartz SpecimensReturn to Mineral Specimen Galleries
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Q-582 Smoky
Quartz gwindel $750 Dodo Mine, Saranpaul, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Russia 13.8 x 8 x 8.5 cm A plate of Quartz crystals from the Subpolar Ural Mountains of Russia. This specimen has mostly clear and colorless Quartz crystals up 6 cm in size and a large, 13 cm, curved Smoky Quartz crystal. Quartz crystals with this growth form are known as “gwindels”. The term "Gwindel" is derived from the German "gewunden", which means helicoidal, twisted. The Smoky Quartz has multiple terminations which are intact with only a little wear on one point. The upper half of the Smoky Quartz gwindel is nearly gem-clear. The Dodo Mine is a classic Russian alpine locality which had its heyday around the 1980's and the Quartz specimens from there are known for their gemminess and their dramatic twisting style. Along with the Swiss Alps and a few mountains in France, this location has produced the most famous gwindel Quartz specimens. To learn more about gwindel Quartz visit Amir Akhavan's magnificent website devoted to all things Quartz: http://www.quartzpage.de/gwindel.html
Q-584 Amethyst $75 Baobab Mine, Kitui County, Kenya 9.3 x 7 x 5.5 cm A sharply terminated and mostly clear Amethyst crystal from a remote region of Kenya. Some of the faces of this Amethyst show skeletal and/or stepped-growth features and there are even some minor clay inclusions, all of which are fine accents. The base is partially terminated and partially contacted.
Q-548 faden Smoky Quartz $50 Miage Glacier, Veny Valley, Monte Bianco Massif, Courmayeur, Aosta, Italy 6.5 x 2.8 x 1.8 cm A very clear faden Quartz from a renowned alpine mineral locality. Faden Quartz is the descriptive term for a usually tabular group of Quartz crystals with a white thread-like or string-like zone running through the interior. The term faden is a German word for "thread". They are commonly found in the Alpine region of Europe, Pakistan, Russia and Arkansas.
Q-556 Quartz $75 Rist Mine, Hiddenite, Alexander County, NC 7 x 4.9 x 4 cm A gem-clear example of Quartz from Hiddenite, North Carolina. This specimen is complete all around with the rear portion being flattened. The crystal has a nice texture with many growth plates being visible. The white areas on the rear of the specimen are not damage, but little bits of Albite. While the electric-green Hiddenite and the top-quality Emeralds from this region get get all of the glory; many fine quality Quartz specimens have been recovered over the years.
Q-475 Quartz with Montmorillonite inclusions $75 White Queen Mine, Pala, San Diego County, CA 6 x 3.5 x 4 cm A classic Quartz from the pegmatites of northern San Diego County. In 1970's several pockets with Quartz crystals with pink & tan Montmorillonite inclusions were found at the White Queen Mine. Many of these crystals, especially the larger ones, were sawn in half & polished to better show these inclusions. What saved this one from being brutalized by saw and lap is the fact that a portion of this crystal had dissolved and re-crystallized leaving a cavernous indentation. The faces of this crystal that haven't been etched are glassy which is uncommon for this material. Examples of these crystals are rarely seen these days.
Q-557 Quartz with Adularia inclusions $35 Hamilton Hill Mine, Jessieville, Garland County, AR 6 x 3 x 2.6 cm A gemmy crystal of Quartz that has that has been included by small crystals of Orthoclase, variety Adularia. This specimen is relatively damage-free with just a micro-sized imperfection on its termination. This crystal is from a small project in 2013 that yielded Adularia and Quartz combination specimens considered to be unique in quality and size for North America. Hamilton Hill has been worked intermittently for over 150 years. Quartz crystal mining was begun at Hamilton Hill shortly after the Civil War by William Hamilton and John Neal. Hamilton Hill reputedly produced the largest volume of crystals of any of the old mines in the Garland County area. It was particularly well known for producing important collector specimens.
Q-510 faden Quartz with Smectite $50 Wana, South Waziristan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan 4.3 x 2.6 x 1.2 A very clear Quartz crystal coated with blue-colored smectite. Faden Quartz crystals from Pakistan have been around for a while but are almost never seen associated with other minerals. I acquired a couple dozen of these colorful specimens at the 2008 Springfield Mineral show. I was a little skeptical about the blue mineral present on the specimens, having been told that it was Smectite. A quick visit to Alfredo Petrov's booth resulted in him stating that it could be Smectite, although neither one of us had seen such vividly colored examples of this mineral. After testing the specimen to ensure that the specimen had not been dyed, I then sent a sample for XRD analysis. The results confirmed that it was indeed Smectite. This specimen represents one of the best Faden Quartz mineral associations from Pakistan.
Q-559 Quartz variety Prase $175 Mega Horio, Serifos Island, Milos, South Aegean, Greece 10.5 x 2 x 1.6 cm A large and richly colored crystal of included Quartz from Greece. After Laurium, the small island of Serifos (where iron has been mined since Roman times) is probably the most renowned mineral locality in Greece, especially for these world-class specimens of Quartz heavily included by the mineral Actinolite. These crystals are thought to have grown in irregular cavities encompassing the fibrous Actinolite which had formed earlier. These included Quartz specimens were first brought to market in quantity at the 1988 Tucson Mineral Show, being sold as Hedenbergite included Quartz which later found to actually be Actinolite. Since then, only occasional small lots of small-sized crystals have trickled out into the mineral market.
Q-174 Quartz variety Prase $125 Mega Horio, Serifos Island, Kykládes Prefecture, Greece 6.2 x 4.5 x 2 cm. After Laurium, the small island of Serifos (where iron has been mined since Roman times) is probably the most renowned mineral locality in Greece, especially for these world-class specimens of Quartz heavily included by the mineral Actinolite. These crystals are thought to have grown in irregular cavities encompassing the fibrous Actinolite which had formed earlier. These included Quartz specimens were first brought to market in quantity at the 1988 Tucson Mineral Show, being sold as Hedenbergite included Quartz. Since then, only occasional small lots have trickled out into the mineral market afterwards. Demand for these have always been highly sought after due to their rich color. Specimens of these crystals are hard to come by these days.
Q-525 Quartz on Smoky Quartz $50 Silent Grove Lode, Silent Grove, Clive County, New South Wales, Australia 9 x 3.8 x 4 cm A crystal of Smoky Quartz that has has a peculiar overgrowth of milky Quartz. This specimen has a good lustre with a cobblestone-like texture. Silent Grove is one Australia's more noteworthy Quartz locations.
Q-500 Smoky Quartz $75 Poudrette Quarry, Mont Saint-Hilaire, La Vallée-du-Richelieu RCM, Montérégie, Québec, Canada 6.2 x 2.2 x 2.1 cm When one thinks of pegmatites, one usually assumes that a significant portion of the minerals found there will be Quartz. However, at Mont Saint-Hilaire, this is not the case as most of the Quartz crystals are found in the non-pegmatite rock formations. While Quartz crystals to 15 cm. have occasionally been found, they are typically opaque & crudely formed. This translucent, double-terminated Quartz crystal exhibits multiple stages of growth with distinct color zoning throughout the crystal. Specimens from this classic location are getting hard to come by as collecting is restricted to one or two field trips per year, to small groups (drawn by lottery) of members of the Club de Minéralogie de Montréal, under very strict rules.
Q-570 Citrine $35 Villasbuenas, Salamanca, Castile and Leon, Spain 4 x 2.6 x 1.5 cm A group of well-formed, honey-colored Citrine crystals on matrix.
Q-547 Smoky
Quartz $250 Rist Mine, Hiddenite, Alexander County, North Carolina 13.4 x 8.3 x 6.6 cm A water-clear group of Smoky Quartz crystals. The center crystal is accented with a deep-red Rutile crystal measuring 1.7 cm embedded~included just below the termination. The glassy faces of this specimen exhibit stepped striations with only one tiny imperfection on the rear of the termination the right hand crystal.
Q-567 Amethyst
on Chalcedony $2,500 Amethyst Mountain, Yellowstone National Park, Park County, WY 21.3 x 16.5 x 8.4 cm A large cabinet-sized plate of Amethyst on Chalcedony from Amethyst Mountain, Eastern Fork of the Yellowstone River, NW Wyoming. The crystals on this specimen have a light, lavender-purple hue. The smaller crystals have unusual stepped faces on their terminations. Nearly all of the crystals on this specimen are intact. This specimen pre-dates Yellowstone Park and is most likely circa 1860's to early 1870's. It was collected before collecting in Yellowstone was prohibited and had resided in the Philadelphia Academy Collection for over a century until 2007 when the collection was dispersed. I think any mineral specimen from America's most famous park is to be treasured and can be considered an American Heirloom.
Q-568 Amethyst $45 Nekemte, Oromia Region, Ethiopia 5.4 x 4.2 x 2.7 cm A mostly clear, medium-colored crystal of Amethyst from a find made 11-12 years ago. The crystal is complete all around with a micro-sized imperfection on its termination.
Q-563 Quartz gwindel $40 Shalman, Khyber District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan 5.4 x 3.5 x 2.5 cm A mostly clear and slightly frosted example of gwindel Quartz from one of Pakistan's many alpine-cleft type mineral deposits. The crystal is complete with good terminations with just a minute imperfection. These specimens are from a small find made in 2012. To learn more about gwindel Quartz visit Amir Akhavan's magnificent website devoted to all things Quartz: http://www.quartzpage.de/gwindel.html
Q-533 Smoky Quartz (double-terminated) $40 Miage Glacier, Veny Valley, Monte Bianco Massif, Courmayeur, Aosta Valley, Italy 8.3 x 2.4 x 1.7 cm A glassy, water-clear crystal of Smoky Quartz with an unusual form. I am not sure what is responsible for this crystal's peculiar form but I think it is an interesting specimen. No damage.
Q-537 Smoky Quartz with Microcline $50 Lolo Pass, Missoula County, MT 10.9 x 4.1 x 4 cm This specimen consists of a slender 10.9 cm prism of Smoky Quartz that is partially enveloped by a 7 cm tabular Smoky Quartz crystal. The larger crystal although very dark in hue is clear. The smaller crystal is translucent and is contacted on one side. Also present on this specimen is a 3.5 cm crystal of Microcline. This specimen is complete all around with just a miniscule imperfection on the termination.
Q-403 Quartz $40 Purple Hope No. 4 Claim, Green Ridge, King County, WA 7.6 x 3.9 x 3.5 cm. Here we have a gemmy crystal of Quartz from the well-known specimen producing area of King County, Washington. This area is known for its beautiful Pyrite and Quartz specimens. This is a complete crystal with no damage. This locality is notorious for the difficult conditions that must be endured while collecting.
Q-490 Quartz
with Boulangerite $45 Herja Mine, Chiuzbaia, Baia Mare, Maramures, Romania 6.5 x 5.1 x 3.1 cm A plate of glassy Quartz crystals included by the sulfide mineral, Boulangerite. The well-formed crystals sit on a matrix of other undetermined sulfides. A great locality piece.
Q-534 etched Quartz $50 Hachupa, Shigar District, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan 6.2 x 5.7 x 4 cm An extremely gemmy & transparent, hydrothermally etched Quartz crystal. An interesting feature of this specimen is that some faces of the crystal are slightly frosted and some are water-clear. These Quartz crystals are a result of dissolution effects in a pocket, where an already formed crystal was later exposed to new hot fluids that removed molecules from the Quartz bit by bit, to create these surface effects. Resulting in these beautiful crystals with fascinating patterns.
Q-175 Quartz variety Prase $75 Mega Horio, Serifos Island, Kykládes Prefecture, Greece 5.8 x 2.9 x 1.9 cm. After Laurium, the small island of Serifos (where iron has been mined since Roman times) is the most renowned mineral locality in Greece, especially for these world-class specimens of Quartz heavily included by the mineral Actinolite (many specimens are erroneously labled Hedenbergite). These crystals are thought to have grown in irregular cavities encompassing the fibrous Actinolite which had formed earlier. These included Quartz specimens were first brought to market in quantity at the 1988 Tucson Mineral Show, being sold as Hedenbergite included Quartz. Since then, only occasional small lots have trickled out into the mineral market afterwards. Demand for these have always been highly sought after due to their rich color. Specimens of these crystals are hard to come by these days.
Q-486 Quartz with Siderite & Cosalite $45 Kara-Oba W Deposit, Betpakdala Desert, Karazhal, Karaganda Region, Kazakhstan 8.5 x 5.3 x 3.5 cm A pair of water-clear Quartz crystals with a jacket of opaque Quartz. A dusting of green-brown-colored Siderite lends a nice accent of color to this specimen. The clear area on the rear is not damaged, it is where the Quartz crystals grew against other Quartz crystals which allows you to see the gemmy interior which has inclusions of the uncommon lead-bismuth sulfosalt, Cosalite.
Q-426 Smoky Quartz on Microcline $40 Lolo Pass, Missoula County, MT 5.3 x 4.9 x 3.1 cm. A stout, 5.3 centimeter Smoky Quartz partially penetrated by a 5 centimeter Smoky Quartz. This crystal has many unique growth lines and patterns on some of the crystal faces. These Smokies from Lolo Pass are not as abundant as they used to be. Collected in the 1980's by Jim & Dawn Minette.
Q-503 Quartz & Hematite $50 Jinlong Hill, Longchuan County, Heyuan, Guangdong, China 6 x 5.7 x 4.9 cm This specimen hails from small deposit that is worked by local farmers for mineral specimens. This specimen features prismatic water clear Quartz crystals rising from a matrix of black, bladed rosettes of Hematite crystals.
Q-459 Quartz with Clinozoisite $60 Clinton Keith Road, Murrieta, Riverside County, CA 6.4 x 2.9 x 2.1 cm A Quartz crystal that is heavily coated by crystals of Clinozoisite in groups and as singles. The Quartz is clear and is doubly-terminated, albeit crudely.
Q-258 Amethyst $60 Osilo, Sassari Province, Sardinia, Italy 9.5 x 6.5 x 3.9 cm. A vuggy, matrix specimen of gemmy Amethyst crystals from a classic locality. These gemmy Amethyst specimens from Sardinia were at one time abundant but it has been a while since I've seen any really good examples of this material for sale. The label accompanying this specimen indicates that it was obtained in May of 1973.
Q-338 Quartz on Smoky Quartz $35 Mount Malosa, Zomba District, Malawi 6.8 x 2.5 x 1.8 cm. Here we have a clear Smoky Quartz crystal that has a peculiar overgrowth of milky Quartz. The brown patch (including some growth hillocks, indicating regrowth) at the rear of the crystal is where it abutted another Quartz crystal during its growth, and it allows us a fine view into the smoky interior. A curious Quartz crystal from a now classic mineral locality.
Q-332 Quartz with Chlorite inclusions $40 Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil 9 x 2.8 x 3 cm. This unusual included Quartz has three faces that are extremely clear and glassy and three that have a more coarse and sandy texture. The glassy surface exhibits a very interesting, tessellating growth pattern. As well as possessing an unusual termination, this specimen has patches of a very soft, blebby dark mineral. When viewed from the bottom, the sectional structure that runs up the length of the crystal is revealed. This specimen is far better in person than in the photos.
Q-151 Quartz with Graphite inclusions $125 Cong Ly, Hunan Province, China 10.3 x 3.6 x 2.5 cm. Here we have a large, incredibly gemmy Quartz crystal with numerous inclusions of Graphite measuring up to 2 cm. in size. It is incredibly difficult to convey in a photograph just how glassy these crystals really are. As far as I am concerned, these are the most interesting Quartz crystals that I have seen come from China. Graphite inclusions in Quartz are very rare, and even more so, in a Quartz crystal that is so glassy and lustrous.
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