Quartz var. Smoky Sceptre on Quartz

This amazing, sceptred Quartz is formed by double-terminated, deep smoky Quartz crystals overgrowing the termination of a much larger, 15 cm tall light smoky Quartz crystal, from Minas Gerais in Brazil.  Like so many specimens from this famous gem mining state, attribution of a specific mine name is not possible.  The intensity of the double-terminated crystals is so dark they could be termed Morion, because in most well lit situations they do appear coal-black.  Two such crystals form the sceptred-cap, the larger measuring almost 8 cm tip-to-tip and the smaller around 6 cm.  These crystals are not perfect, with several vuggy crevices interrupting the otherwise smooth glassy hexagonal pyramidal faces.  With intense light behind the specimen, patches of the dark smoky crystals do become translucent, dark clove-brown.  The sceptre’s body is a formed by a large hexagonal smoky Quartz crystal which tapers slightly towards its termination.  The core of the crystal is opaque while between this and the prism faces the Quartz is essentially semi-transparent.  The colour varies through light smoky-grey to dull champaign, with off-white zones around the base and termination faces.  This showy specimen comes with its own custom-made display stand made of colourless acrylic with the profile of the specimen’s base milled into the stand.