• Detail of a piece of garden quartz with a large inclusion in the center that is opaque and light-colored with colored spots reminiscent of a slice of sausage on the surface.
  • A polished piece of garden quartz held between finger and thumb for scale, in sunlight. The freeform is blocky, cut so three faces come to a point in the center of a large opaque inclusion. The inclusion goes through the piece, and appears reflective and light inside the quartz.
  • Side-view of the piece, with the large inclusion going through the center appearing white with reflections, with some clear quartz on the right
  • Side-view of the specimen, with the central inclusion blocked by a layer of mossy green chlorite
  • A side-view of the garden quartz with swirling mossy green inclusions and several yellowish blade-like inclusions.
  • The specimen with sunlight shining directly on it, appearing darker than when side-lit. The right wide of the piece has clear quartz, while the left side is covered in green chlorite.
  • The bottom of the specimen cut flat, revealing the hexagonal form of the inclusion through the center. Blade-like inclusions reflect light on the left side.
  • A side-view of the central inclusion without sunlight reflecting off it, appearing more off-white and textured.
  • A side of the piece with swirling green chlorite and golden yellow blade-like inclusions
  • Detail of the bottom of the garden quartz piece in bright white light, showing the hexagonal form on the inclusion through the center surrounded by mossy dark green chlorite and shiny light yellow flake-like inclusions
  • A side view of the specimen in bright white light, showing one of the blade-like inclusions in the green chlorite is shaped like two perfectly symmetrical points of a five-pointed star.
  • Scale image of the piece on a measuring mat, measuring close to two inches long by a bit over an inch wide.
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Garden quartz freeform

Garden quartz freeform

$30.00 USD
$30.00 USD
Sale Sold out
Shipping calculated at checkout.

Approx dimensions: 1.75 x 1.25 x 1"

Approx weight: 75g

 

Garden quartz, also called lodolite, is the trade name for clear quartz included with chlorite to create a scene like a miniature mossy garden landscape. The different types of chlorite inclusions are colored by other trace elements to produce muted tones of green, purple, pink, and coppery browns, reds, and oranges. I think they’re like peering into a tide pool!

Garden quartz is generally sold polished to best reveal its internal features. The inclusions can make the garden quartz appear dark, so it can be especially captivating in bright light or when lit from underneath, illuminating the interior scene.

This piece of garden quartz is weird as heck so buy it before I decide to keep it. The freeform shape has been cut so that a hexagonal inclusion—best described as "sausage meat" in color and texture—runs through the center of it. Quartz typically grows six-sided crystals which makes me wonder whether the first phase of growth was quartz so heavily included it was opaque, followed by glassy-clear quartz included with green, orange, and golden chlorite. The backside is covered in mossy-looking chlorite and has unusual blade-like growths I suspect could be another mineral; one is shaped like two points of a star with symmetry that doesn't seem accidental (second to last image).

Note: because garden quartz is heavily included, it is common to see pitting on the surface where inclusions touch the surface and the softer material was pulled away in the polishing process. For the same reason it is also common to have light fracturing or chipping at points and junctions of polished faces. This specimen does exhibit these features!

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