• Full view of a long thick smoky quartz crystal with a much smaller crystals growing out one side like a flipper. The top half and the left side of the smoky quartz is coated in a bumpy layer of pale hyalite.
  • The piece in the same position as the previous image, in the dark and illuminated in blue-tinted UV light. The hyalite areas fluoresce a strong yellowish-green color.
  • The piece in the same position as the previous two images, in the dark and illuminated in blue-tinted UV light. The hyalite areas fluoresce a strong yellowish-green color with patches of light blue.
  • View of the side of the point covered in light-colored hyalite. There is some orange-tinted iron staining near the base.
  • Another side of the specimen, showing the curved back of the point with nice striations on the quartz face. There is red-orange iron staining under the colorless hyalite, which has grown thick enough it's raised off the surface like a crust
  • View of a side of the piece showing is has curvature, and also showing the best view of the deep color of the smoky quartz which fades from near-black near the tip to a dark brown at the base.
  • Another side view, showing the angular faces on the smoky quartz. From this angle the piece is fairly thin.
  • Detail view of the tip of the point, coated in hyalite. The hyalite has formed a shiny beady surface over yellow-brown staining, with a crust of irregular clusters of small needle-like crystals.
  • Detail vie of the colorless needle-like crystal clusters on beady yellow-brown hyalite.
  • Detail view of a side, showing the translucency of the piece is fairly good and wispy inclusions and feathers are visible inside. The surface has a bit of iron staining, which emphasizes a small hexagonal indentation.
  • Another view of the middle of the piece, with the inclusions lit differently and light on the surface striations of the quartz face.
  • Detail view of the "flipper" crystal, a small well-formed smoky quartz covered in hyalite. The hyalite on the main point is lumpy and shiny
  • Scale image of the piece on a measuring mat, measuring almost five inches
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Smoky quartz point with hyalite "The Whale"

Smoky quartz point with hyalite "The Whale"

$65.00 USD
$65.00 USD
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Locale: Erongo Mountain, Namibia

Point length: 4.75"

Approx weight: 171g

 

I call this one "the whale"! The point curves and has a smaller point sticking out of it, appearing like a breaching whale.

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 angular points with nice striations. Paired with hyalite, the smoky quartz takes on a witchy appearance. I would dub these points "witch's fingers" but there is already a variety of quartz called that so I use "witch's manicure" instead. 

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. 

Near the base of the "flipper," there is a cluster of fine needle-like growth crystals which I don't believe is hyalite, but may simply be quartz needles. Some appear capped almost like miniature quartz scepter. On other specimens the ends appear cubic and can take on a purple amethyst hue. It's possible they are actually extremely small fluorite crystals, since this fluorite from this locale tends to have a cubic crystal habit.

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.

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