Quartz (''Faden'')

Item Description

A showy and good quality "Faden" Quartz specimen from this well-known locality in Pakistan, that has certainly produced some of the finest examples of this particular habit/style ever seen. The now iconic pieces from Tole (sometimes also called Tui, Toyee, or Toj Shingi) feature superb crystallization along with distinct well-formed internal "Faden" lines, reminiscent of the old classic specimens from the European Alps. Quartz is beloved for it thousands of habits found around the world, and some of the most distinctive Quartz specimens found in Alpine and "Alpine-type" deposits are these attractive "Faden" crystal groups. This specimen shows the classic "Faden" (German word for string) form that are well known from this locality. The piece exhibits a pronounced predominant "Faden" that runs across the centers of the sharp, lustrous, colorless, GEM/gemmy Quartz crystals. The piece is in good condition, with no major damage that I can find, only a few small trivial imperfections, and it's understandably contacted on the base where it was detached from the pocket wall. These Pakistani pieces seemed to have dried up in recent years, and I personally think they are highly underappreciated for what they are. For reference, it was believed at one time that the "Fadens" were created due to inclusions of another mineral within the Quartz crystals, but the lines are actually formed when the crystals are gently ruptured underground, essentially pulled apart, and then heal themselves, so the "Faden" lines are the scars formed from these crystals in the form liquid and gas inclusions in the crystals.