Smoky Quartz (ex David Burgess Collection)

Item Description

A good quality piece of the famous Smoky Quartz specimens from Mooralla featuring a nearly doubly-terminated sharp, very lustrous, gemmy crystal with a distinct "scepter" / "reverse scepter" habit free of matrix. When backlit, you can see a range of colors from nearly black "Morion" Quartz to essentially colorless on the edges. The label accompanying the piece states that the crystal originated from a rhyolitic lava geode. Classic material from this well-known Australian locality! Minor roughness, but great quality overall. Valued at $500. From the worldwide collection of David Burgess (1951-2016). David was a prolific species collector from Newington, Connecticut, and the namesake for the extremely rare cobalt arsenate species Burgessite, which he discovered.