• Full view of the specimen, tilted to view top side at an angle. The top is covered with smoky quartz crystals, with one main thick crystal and a half dozen moderately large points visible. A lot of the points have imperfect termination, either broken or not formed. Some of the crystals are coated in a white or orange-toned overgrowth.
  • The first of two lighting images: an end of the specimen in the dark illuminated with blue-tinted UV light. The piece is tilted back to show the bottom, with the quartz points still visible jutting up at the top. The hyalite fluoresces a strong yellowish-green with icy blue overtone.
  • The second of two lighting images: the specimen in the same position as the previous image, in white light. The points are dark-colored, and the bottom is coated in minerals. There is a light brown aggregate of irregular growth, with shard-like pieces of smoky quartz and iron staining. It is covered in a slightly green-yellow layer of hyalite.
  • A side-view of the piece with the points jutting up and irregular mineral composite at the bottom. The hyalite is thick and has large spheres with good transparency.
  • A better view of the large smoky quartz crystal, which has good light brown color and good translucency. The smaller crystals to the left are darker and more opaque, but well-formed. The large point is missing its tip, with growth turning into an irregular slant at the end. The crystal has good striations. There are several small smoky points growing perpendicularly from its surface.
  • Detail of the small well-formed schorl crystal with mercedes termination and good inverted patterning on the surface
  • Detail of the main point, showing good clarity and light catching some small inclusions near the top. There is a wispy phantom shape in the bottom half. There are a lot of well-formed small crystals around the base.
  • The specimen held in a hand for scale, as large as the hand. The image is captioned "indirect sunlight" as the hyalite is lightly glowing yellow-green
  • Detail of the hyalite "snowballs" in indirect sunlight, appearing as if lightly glowing greenish from within.
  • Short clip of the specimen being turned and tilted, zooming in on details. The top has nice angular quartz points, and the hyalite on the underside has excellent daylight fluorescence, glowing a light yellow-green.
  • Detail of a cluster of small spindle-like smoky quartz crystals with interesting rust-orange surface coating.
  • The bottom of the specimen, an aggregate of irregular schorl crystals with shards of smoky quartz. The right side is coated with large botryoidal hyalite with high luster reflecting like bubbles. There are two large spheres of hyalite on the far right that are white and opaque like snowballs instead of glassy.
  • The second of three lighting images: the piece in the same position as the previous image, in the dark and illuminated with UV light. The hyalite fluoresces a strong yellowish-green, with the snowballs especially bright, and a light blue overtone more apparent in thinner areas of hyalite.
  • The third of three lighting images: the piece in the same position as the previous image, in the dark and illuminated with UV light. The hyalite fluoresces a strong yellowish-green, with the snowballs especially bright.
  • Detail of the overgrowth on the surface of several smoky quartz prisms in the cluster. The rust-orange color is opaque and rough. The white appears like a milky translucent film with round white spots throughout
  • Detail of the snowball-like formations of hyalite, a white opaque sphere coated in slightly yellow-tinted hyalite which coats the area. There are some small needle-like growths of colorless quartz on the hyalite, including on the snowballs. A broken side of a piece near the top shows radial growth.
  • The same detail of the snowballs as the previous image, in dim light illuminated with UV light. The hyalite fluoresces a strong yellowish-green, with the white spheres fluorescing very strongly
  • Scale image of the piece on a measuring mat, measuring about three and a half inches wide by four and a half inches long, with the longest crystal jutting out about another inch.
  • Scale image of the piece on its side on a measuring mat, measuring over four and a half inches long by two inches wide with the longest point extending to three inches.
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Smoky quartz cluster with black tourmaline and hyalite

Smoky quartz cluster with black tourmaline and hyalite

$245.00 USD
$245.00 USD
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Locale: Erongo Mountain, Namibia

Approx dimensions: 4.5 x 3.5 x 3"

Approx weight: 488g

** Loose piece on underside

 

The top of this specimen is a smoky quartz cluster, perched on an aggregate of black tourmaline and irregular shards of smoky quartz, coated in hyalite. The largest smoky quartz crystal in this cluster is 3" with lighter color, good clarity, and a faint phantom. The black tourmaline (schorl) is mostly poorly developed, but there is one small well-formed crystal nestled in the smoky quartz crystal, featuring the classic trigonal 'Mercedes' termination characteristic of Erongo material.

Smoky quartz from the Erongo region is typically a quite dark brown-black color, with lower clarity due to natural inclusions, and a flat surface luster caused by etching. It grows sculptural elongated and angular points with nice striations.

Smoky quartz gets its dark coloration from trace elements that tint dark when the quartz is exposed to natural radiation. Don’t worry, smoky quartz can't expose you to radiation—even if the hyalite turns "radioactive" green under UV light.

Hyalite is a form of opal, which in turn is part of the broader quartz family. Related minerals commonly grow together because they have similar requirements for growth: in this case, the availability of silica that is the basis for the quartz family. Growing conditions that initially produced quartz changed, and a later generation of growth deposited the less common hyalite on the specimen.

Hyalite displays botryoidal growth (bunches of “grape-like” round crystals) with a glossy high luster like a layer of bubbles. I think it looks like mermaid caviar! Hyalite can appear fluid with formations that look like the splash from a drip frozen in place, or as if the edge has been peeled up away from the quartz like a tutu. The hyalite on this specimen may be "hidden" on the bottom, but it is lush with very clear large botryoidal hyalite. There are two spheres that are white at the center like snowballs trapped in the hyalite.

UV reactivity Hyalite is so strongly UV reactive that you can see it in sunlight. Under indoor lighting it is pale yellow to golden in color, but turns visibly greenish yellow when exposed to the UV in sunlight. 395nm UV fluoresces a strong green, with an icy blue undertone. Best viewed in darker conditions. 365nm UV fluoresces a strong yellowish-green color, generally visible even in bright lighting. No phosphorescence detected.

Loose piece: There is a shard of smoky quartz on the underside that is loose and will move around (you may hear a faint 'tink' sound like porcelain!). It is firmly wedged between crystals and doesn't seem in danger of falling out.

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