Quartz with Hematite

Item Description

Quartz with Hematite combinations comprise one of the signature specimens for the well-known Orange River area. The Hematite can be included within the Quartz crystals, or be a surficial coating, or both. No matter the relationship, the specimens can be compelling. I find this one to be particularly arresting, as the one main Quartz rises majestically from a base of white Quartz, itself sprinkled with smaller Quartz crystals. This 6 cm crystal is actually three generations, with Hematite-included Quartz on top of white. If you look at these as one, they actually form a reverse scepter. The third generation is exceptional, being a superbly-lustrous, thin layer of glassy, Hematite-included Quartz that preferentially coats the second generation. The sharply delineated, open 'windows' then reveal tiny 'mesas' of this third generation popping up throughout these exposures of generation two. These are rather remarkable and unique, and if you can forgive the analogy, they remind me of tie fighters from Star Wars swarming out of a star destroyer. There is a tiny bit of wear on one edge of the termination, but the aesthetics of this instantly-recognizable, small-cabinet piece from Orange River (whose production is primarily from South Africa), is hardly affected because the look is so beautiful and distinct. Probably from the major finds of the early 2000s here.