*This rock specimen is too large to ship internationally and we would advise only UK customers buy it. We will ship internationally but it will push the cost of shipping up*
 
This smoky quartz comes in big old chunks and in smaller pieces. We group togethher the small bits and sell it by the gram, but these large mineral specimens are too pretty to sell. We have three of them to list today, so skip to the last paragraph for the rock description if you have already read this part. You can find out more about this Scottish smoky quartz on our blog at www.thestonecircle.co.uk.
 
We make the occasional trip up north to look for quartz in the burns and mountains. The best material we find is a lovely clear smokey, the darker, the better. This is not collected from the Cairngorms National Park. It is collcted in the same ballpark but across the country. Lapidary artists use this material to make smoky quartz jewellery with and we occasionally wrap the smaller pieces for pendants. Crystal healers of the internet say it has a calm, nurturing energy.
 
This chunk of smokey quartz from Scotland has yellow patches on it. These have been left by the presence of iron oxides int he soil when it formed or when it emerged. The yellow gems were often sold as citrine back in the day. Obviously we know now that it is not true citrine. You might even know this type of quartz better as golden healer quartz.... but really the golden is goethite or pyrite staining.