Smoky Quartz (with multiple ''Chlorite'' phantoms) (ex Kurt Hefendehl Collection)

Item Description

The top Quartz crystals from the Polar Urals of Russia are among the finest quality examples of the species out there, as they can be large, robust single prisms - often with a slightly smoky hue - and superb internal gemminess. These specimens are "Alpine-type" in their formation, which means they are very similar to their counterparts from the Swiss Alps of Europe, which are some of the most beloved Quartz crystals ever found. This piece is a fantastic full cabinet sized crystal with excellent, well-formed faces on all sides. Internally the piece has a slightly "hazy", smoky hue, but with a bit of backlighting, you will see the piece hosts not one but TWO internal "phantoms", which are created by the presence of moss-green "Chlorite" (Clinochlore). You can clearly see a separation line between the two phantoms, so you have multiple internal repeated images of the outermost shape of the Quartz crystal frozen inside. The piece is in good condition - I found on contact on the back corner - and outside of the base of the crystal where it was removed from the pocket wall, there is no other damage I can find. Please note that this crystal has NOT been polished, the faces are 100% natural, which is important to stress with this material, as sometimes the broken crystals will be polished to better illustrate the "phantoms" inside. From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl, 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.