large Smoky Quartz (RARE CA locale)

Item Description

An exceptional and RARE large doubly terminated smoky quartz crystal from the famous Pala Chief Mine. This is a superb, sculptural, limpid 360-degree, light smoky crystal. Three of six hexagonal prism faces are glass clear with the other three having satin luster or frosting. Stepped-growth enhances all of the prism faces. The impressive, sharp primary termination has frosted, satin luster faces. The multiple terminations at the base and attached side car crystals add much character to this remarkable quartz. Essentially pristine for such a large crystal. An small out-of-sight contact lower on the back hosts Schorl sections. A trivial bit of bruising to the primary basal termination and to an adjacent side car crystal, are noted and are out-of-sight and certainly have only negligible impact to the overall outstanding quality of this specimen. Mass is 671 grams or 1.5 pounds. The Pala Chief Mine was discovered in 1903 and for the first ten heavily worked years was the world's foremost source for gem spodumene. The pegmatites also produced fine tourmaline specimens. The mine has been intermittently active with limited success since. See the 2002 Mineralogical Record article in Vol. 33, No. 3 for more information on the mine. Formerly in the collection of Garth Bricker, well-known California collector and field collector. He passed away in 2020. The piece dates to circa 1970's - 1980's. From the Bill Larson Quartz collection case, of approximately 250 specimens, which we bought in 2023. It was a long-term, very diverse mix on display for decades at the Pala International shop as an educational and fun exhibit. It was started back in the late 1970s. An important, large doubly terminated smoky quartz from the Pala Chief Mine with an excellent provenance.