This is an old favourite piece which Katriona found on a hill in Dumfriesshire. It was collected in 2019 and has lived on the window ledge for years: the place where all the best crystals end up while we work out if we can part with them or not.
The time has come for this quartz drusy. This quartz forms a sparkling blanket over the minerals underneath. These minerals are all hematite infused so that they are red or, in places where there is more iron, yellow stained. The result is a blanket of smokey to clear quartz over a red host rock which makes the Druzy look pale purple. 
When we first found this Katriona was new to rock hunting. As such, she assumed it was her first amethyst. The region does produce amethyst so it was a reasonable assumption. Since then we have found real amethyst to compare it with and learned how to tell the difference.
This Scottish quartz crystal has hematite, Siderite or limonite, and a square formation of Galena on one corner. This is a collectors crystal and we do not recommend that you cut it, grind it, lick it, or use it as a healing crystal.