Quartz var: Smoky

Item Description

Most of the Quartz specimens you'll see from this area are typically white or colorless with an orange or red color due to iron oxide content / inclusions, but this is an uncommon Smoky Quartz specimen filled with sharp, lustrous, GEMMY, well-formed hexagonal prisms measuring up to 3.5 cm long with little matrix. There is a slight amount of reddish iron oxide in spots, creating an extra layer of color, but the crystals are predominantly smoky in hue. Keep in mind that most of the Quartz crystals from this area are typically translucent and not nearly as gemmy as the crystals on this piece. Overall the specimen is in good condition, but there are a few rough spots, so it's not completely pristine. A very attractive example of these famous Quartz specimens from the Orange River (along the border between Namibia and South Africa). From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl (#108 N), a well-known German collector all over Europe with worldwide contacts to dealers and collectors. He started collecting seriously at the age of 14 and his great and varied worldwide collection reached over 6000 pieces. He was very active mineralogically until shortly before his passing in 2020 at the age of 82. Considering his collection had a large number of pieces, it still had an unusually high standard of quality from most worldwide localities. He particularly specialized in all classics as well as minerals of the Black Forest, where he spent much time collecting. His Black Forest and German subcollections went to his good friend Wolfgang Wendel. We at The Arkenstone have the privilege of offering the remainder of this great worldwide collection over the next two to three years through our various platforms.