Smoky Quartz, Meaning, Properties, and Facts

What is smoky quartz

Smoky quartz is silicon dioxide, the same mineral as clear quartz, with a few aluminum atoms standing in for silicon. Over millions of years, gamma rays from radioactive elements in the surrounding granite knock electrons loose around that aluminum, and the damaged spots absorb light. More aluminum and more radiation make a darker crystal, from pale tea to the opaque black variety called morion.

Smoky quartz properties

Smoky quartz properties match every other quartz except the color (full mineral data is on Mindat's quartz page):

Where smoky quartz is found

Smoky quartz is found wherever quartz grows close to radioactive granite, most often in pegmatites. Famous sources include the Pikes Peak granite of Colorado, where it grows with blue-green amazonite; Minas Gerais in Brazil; the Swiss Alps; the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland, which gave smoky quartz its old Scottish name, cairngorm; and Madagascar.

Elestial smoky quartz

Elestial smoky quartz grows in stacked, etched layers that look like terraces, with many small terminations across its faces instead of one clean point. Read how that happens in the elestial and skeletal quartz guide.

How to tell if smoky quartz is real

How to tell if smoky quartz is real starts with the color: natural smoky quartz is usually brown or gray, see-through at the edges and often unevenly zoned. A lot of jet black "smoky quartz" sold online is clear quartz given its color in a lab with radiation. It is still quartz, but not natural smoky quartz, and the giveaways are an even, inky black, a milky white base and a low price. Glass fakes show round bubbles and swirls under a loupe. More in fake smoky quartz: what irradiated quartz looks like.

Smoky quartz care: water and sun

Smoky quartz care comes down to light and heat. Water will not hurt it, but long direct sun or high heat fades the smoke, because the same energy that made the color can undo it. Keep it off sunny windowsills, rinse it in plain water and dry it with a soft cloth. See the full list of crystals that fade in the sun.

Smoky quartz meaning

Smoky quartz meaning, in crystal lore, is grounding: people keep it for calm and protection. That is belief, not chemistry. The history is better than the lore. The story goes that judges in 12th-century China wore flat panes of smoky quartz as early sunglasses so no one could read their eyes, and Scottish Highlanders set cairngorm stones into brooches and dirk handles.

Smoky quartz for sale

Smoky quartz for sale in the current drop is two pieces: an elestial smoky quartz from Minas Gerais, Brazil and a smoky quartz cluster.

Smoky Quartz FAQ

Is black smoky quartz real?

Black smoky quartz can be real: the opaque natural variety is called morion. Very even, inky black quartz over a white base is usually clear quartz colored in a lab with radiation.

Is smoky quartz water safe?

Smoky quartz is water safe. At 7 on the Mohs scale it will not dissolve, swell or soften in water.

Does smoky quartz fade in the sun?

Smoky quartz can fade in the sun over months, and high heat fades it faster, so keep it out of sunny windows.

Where is smoky quartz found in Colorado?

Smoky quartz is found in Colorado in the Pikes Peak granite west of Colorado Springs, often growing right next to blue-green amazonite.

Is smoky quartz the same as obsidian?

Smoky quartz is not the same as obsidian. Smoky quartz is a crystal with an ordered atomic structure, while obsidian is volcanic glass with none.

Sources

• Smoky quartz, Wikipedia
• Quartz, Mindat