• Full view of a hedenbergite quartz point, a well-formed slightly tapered point with tip intact and base cleanly broken. It has a light mint-greenish color in the top half that fades to colorless at the base. The point is striped with lined of black and white minerals on a frosty matte surface.
  • Detail of the tip of the point showing the reverse-sceptered growth, with the tip significantly smaller than the crystal. There is a ring of spot inclusions around the base of it.
  • Detail of the base piece showing the black lines are slightly greenish tinted and composed of small spherical crystals indented into the surface of the quartz. The white lines are thin blade-like growths that stick out from the surface bit in places.
  • Full view of another side of the piece, with some of the quartz crystal missing near the tip in an angular wedge. The black and white lines stripe this side as well.
  • Full view of the piece at an angle, with faint interior patterns visible inside the point appearing as though the calcite layers grow partially through the point
  • Detail of the point back-lit, showing the pattern of the black spots and thing layers of white calcite. Where the spots are thick, they extend into the quartz in a layer
  • Detail of the tip of the point, showing one side if it is roughly formed, appearing partially etched away and filled with partial crystals and the dark material.
  • Full view of another side of the piece, with quartz missing near the tip making it perfectly symmetric on one side but irregular on the opposite side. There are faint white patterns visible as though the calcite layers extend into the point.
  • Detail of the dark spheres in the surface, with the lines deeply embedded into the surface in this part and densely filled with the spherical minerals.
  • Detail shining light through the piece, showing it has fairly good translucency which gets better in the colorless base. The black spot inclusions inside the piece are also more visible, showing they are growing in layers through the quartz.
  • Detail of the broken end of the point showing the interior is glassy and colorless and there is a frosty crust with black spots in it.
  • Scale image of the point on a measuring mat, showing it is over two and a half inches long, inclusive of angled broken base
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Hedenbergite quartz point with reverse scepter

Hedenbergite quartz point with reverse scepter

$35.00 USD
$35.00 USD
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Locale: HuangGangLiang mining district, Inner Mongolia, China

Approx point length: 2.5"

Approx weight: 32g

 

These quartz points are from HuangGangLiang, and commonly called Mongolian or Inner Mongolian quartz. When the primary inclusion is hedenbergite, enough to give the quartz a greenish tint, it is more appropriately called hedenbergite quartz. In this specimen, hedenbergite inclusions produce a lovely mint green hue in the top of the point that fades in a gradient to a more translucent colorless at the base.

This isn't your typically shiny quartz crystal; it has a frosted luster with a sheen effect, producing a ghostly appearance. This point has excellent form with a reverse scepter tip, meaning the tip has not grown larger than the rest of the crystal, but is stepped down and smaller than the main crystal.

The point is striped with thin angular dark and white lines. The white is thin layers of calcite, which will fluoresce under 365nm UV light. Looking closely, the dark lines are composed of spheres that appear a dark olive green color and almost metallic luster with radial growth. I suspect it could be epidote but admit even with magnification my eyes aren’t good enough to tell—email me if you know about this material, I’d love to learn more! 

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