It never ceases to amaze me how truly radiant and lustrous fine quartz crystals really are. Have a quick look at this short video of a superb Brandberg Quartz crystal. If you want to follow the link in the title of the video to see a full description of the crystal and a bunch more super large images, the link is to http://www.gemron.com. Enjoy!
Look carefully at a collection of fine quartz crystals. Could you mistake them for diamonds? Obviously not, but there are some similarities, and I’m not talking of intrinsic value, of course! Like diamonds, quartz crystals are much harder than glass, like diamonds they have natural flaws, or inclusions, and like diamonds they come in a variety of colors!
Amazingly enough, there is one area though in which quartz crystals are naturally superior to diamonds! Many people on seeing a natural quartz crystal for the first time are convinced that the amazing shape and formation of the front terminations is not natural, but is the result of a man-made polishing process. Because of the atomic structure and crystalline properties of quartz, the crystal usually comes straight out of the ground with an amazingly polished appearance and shape, which is never the case with a rough diamond. The diamond on the other hand, in its finished form, requires much human effort and expertise to attain the shape, form and luster for which it is so highly valued. Rough diamonds may be wonderfully valuable because of their potential, but they are not going to impress the casual viewer with their natural rough and often shapeless appearance!
The value of a collector’s quartz crystal specimen is affected by the perfection of its surfaces and terminations, as much as by its color or other features, but minute surface chips are almost always present. In fact the typical lateral surface striations, which all quartz crystals have, impart a luster and sheen which a polished crystal can never emulate, however perfect the terminations may appear to the untrained eye. The wonderful natural etchings, patterns and surface variations of a truly great crystal are never found in one which has been polished up by man to remove surface dings and imperfections.
So when choosing your quartz crystal, don’t be fooled by comparing it to a diamond, at least insofar as the quality of the surface planes and facets are concerned. Quartz has it’s own intrinsic and unique beauty that can never be equalled by man-made polishing.
Quartz crystals have long been a great favorite with mineral collectors. Shelves lined with a wide range of different varieties are to be seen in many a fine collection, but nowadays they are also appearing in another guise: natural crystal jewelry.
While artists and jewelers have often used polished stones to create wire-wrapped pieces and strung them as pendants, a completely new version is appearing today around the necks of crystal lovers. These are crystal pendants, made from 100% natural and unpolished stones, mounted not with wire-wrapping, but using ceramic tops.
The attraction of quartz crystal pendants for most people is not just their natural beauty and lustrous appearance, but because crystals have widely come to be accepted in their own right due to their healing and calming qualities and properties. Actually being able to wear a healing stone of choice around one’s neck is thus highly desirable!
Amongst the offerings we have seen, the pendants made from natural Brandberg Quartz crystals are especially attractive. Because of their lovely natural luster and shape, they have become firm favorites wherever they are available.
While quartz is not in itself a rare or uncommon mineral by any means, the range of varieties is so great world-wide, that there is always something to pick from, and no collection can ever be complete without some of these natural beauties. Similarly, with the pendants, there is a wide range of crystals to choose from. One can even find moving-bubble enhydro crystals amongst those on offer, a variety for which Brandberg is justifiably world-famous.
The country of Namibia on the South Western coast of Africa is a land of extremes. Large tracts of it are an arid semi-desert vastness, but it is the source of some of the greatest mineral wealth in the world The southern coastal stretches of the country, where the icy cold South Atlantic ocean washes up onto miles of sandy beaches, includes a forbidden area, sealed off with impenetrable fences, guarded by roving bands of heavily armed men and vicious dogs. This area is literally strewn with incredible wealth. Diamonds washed up from the sea onto this sandy shore, and mined by De Beers, the famous South African mining house, and world’s great producer of rough diamonds are found here in great abundance. So closely is this wealth guarded that cars that do somehow enter into this secret area, can never emerge again, in case they have hidden diamonds secreted somewhere in their chassis. Instead they remain in vast parking lots, to rust and gradually fall apart, never to be driven out again.
However there are many other areas in this starkly beautiful land that are accessible, albeit with some difficulty, to the intrepid collector of mineral specimens. One of the most famous is the area of the Great Brandberg Mountain, where some of the world’s finest Quartz Crystals are to be found.
Nowadays the Brandberg Mountain itself is off bounds to would be collectors and even the local residents who have long mined its treasures, are no longer allowed free access to its slopes. However there are pockets of these magnificent quartz crystals still to be found in the surrounding mountains and hills in the vicinity of the little nearby town of Gobobos. Intrepid locals journey up into these arid hills, where there are no roads, and even the hardiest off-road vehicles would labor and strain to pass, and prospect for the hidden gemstones. Spending days of searing heat and nights of freezing cold on the mountainsides, they dig and search for pockets of Brandberg crystals, only returning when they have a few trays of these beautiful quartz gems, which they then hope to sell to visiting collectors and tourists who have braved the extreme conditions to reach the area.
For anyone who has made the trek once, the lure of this strange and magical land always beckons them back, but be forewarned, unless you have the help of a local who trusts and has befriended you, your chances of finding bargains are slim indeed. Language barriers and local customs make this a very different scene to that which the sophisticated western traveller has experienced in other parts of the world!
Fortunately there are collectors who have managed to obtain choice Brandberg crystals and some are willing to part with them. This is probably the best way to obtain any for one’s own collection. Good luck! They are worth the effort!
Some of the most sought after and exotic features of fine quartz crystals are phantoms. These are colored areas within the crystal which ‘mimic’ the shape of the outline, giving the effect of a ‘phantom’ crystal within the crystal. On occasion these chevron shaped areas repeat themselves at intervals along the length of the crystal. The most sought after phantoms are the vivid Amethyst ones, but Smokey phantoms are also in great demand, and perhaps the choicest are the combination of both in one crystal.
Below are examples of each of these formations. Enjoy!
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