Smoky quartz is a brownish grey, translucent variety of
quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...
that ranges in clarity from almost complete transparency to an almost-opaque brownish-gray or black crystals. The color of smoky quartz is produced when natural radiation, emitted from the surrounding rock, activates color centers around aluminum impurities within the crystalline quartz.
Varieties
Morion is a very dark brown to black opaque variety. Morion is the German, Danish, Spanish and Polish synonym for smoky quartz. The name is from a misreading of ''mormorion'' in
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...
.
Cairngorm is a variety of smoky quartz found in the
Cairngorm Mountains of
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. It usually has a smoky yellow-brown colour, though some specimens are greyish-brown. It is used in Scottish
jewellery
Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the ...
and as a decoration on
kilt
A kilt ( ) is a garment resembling a wrap-around knee-length skirt, made of twill-woven worsted wool with heavy pleats at the sides and back and traditionally a tartan pattern. Originating in the Scottish Highland dress for men, it is first r ...
pins and the handles of (
anglicised
Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...
: ''
sgian-dubh
The ( ; ) – also anglicized as skene-dhu – is a small, single-edged knife () worn as part of traditional Scottish Highland dress. It is now worn tucked into the top of the kilt hose with only the upper portion of the hilt visible. The is n ...
s'' or ''skean dhu''). The largest known cairngorm crystal is a specimen kept at
Braemar Castle.
Uses
Smoky quartz is common and was not historically important, but in recent times it has become a popular
gemstone
A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewellery, jewelry or other adornments. Certain Rock (geology), rocks (such ...
, especially for
jewelry
Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the ...
.
Sunglasses
Sunglasses or sun glasses (informally called shades or sunnies; more names Sunglasses#Other names, below) are a form of Eye protection, protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damagin ...
, in the form of flat panes of smoky quartz, were used in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
in the 12th century.
[Joseph Needham, Science & Civilisation in China (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1962), volume IV, part 1, page 121. Needham states that dark glasses were worn by Chinese judges to hide their facial expressions during court proceedings.]
See also
*
List of minerals
This is a list of minerals which have Wikipedia articles.
Minerals are distinguished by various chemical and physical properties. Differences in chemical composition and crystal structure distinguish the various ''species''. Within a mineral speci ...
References
* Holden, Edward (1925).
The Cause of Color in Smoky Quartz and Amethyst in ''American Mineralogist'', vol. 9, pp. 203–252
External links
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Quartz gemstones
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