Quartz ?

[605dano]

I found these in a pegmatite. Very clear in the center. very hard and brittle. Will scratch quartz. Wife says quartz and I am inclined to go along with that but am not sure. Other rare minerals have been found in this deposit. What do you think?

 

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[loco oro]

looks like quartz.i agree with the wife!

 

[huntsman53]

It is possible that it is Quartz but in the 3rd pic, it sure has the look of Topaz. When you rub it, does it feel greasy? If so, then I would lean more towards Topaz!


Frank

 

[Bajahunter]

My mineral guide tells me that quartz has no cleavage and topaz has perfect cleavage in one direction.
Do you see any perfect squared edges on your piece?
That and hadness are the only tests listed to differentiate between quartz and topaz.

 

[huntsman53]

The O.P's specimen appears to have been fractured out of the host/parent rock and cleavage planes are probably no longer present. I have many Topaz specimens similar to it as well as many that were tumbled in streams and tumblers and no cleavage planes can be determined. The hardness test, look and the feel are really the only way I have been able to determine that they are Topaz versus Quartz. While some Quartz specimens will have a light greasy feel to them due to the environment where they formed or were found, Topaz generally has a really greasy feel to them when rubbed between your' fingers even after washing the specimens over and over many times.


Frank

 

[605dano]

The pieces have a glassy feel not real greasy. I know that gem quality Andalusite has come from this deposit and at first thought it was possible, but really don't know that much about it. It's so clear inside I thought I'd throw it out there. Thanks for the replies.

 

[huntsman53]

The pieces have a glassy feel not real greasy. I know that gem quality Andalusite has come from this deposit and at first thought it was possible, but really don't know that much about it. It's so clear inside I thought I'd throw it out there. Thanks for the replies.

The color and not being greasy I believe rules out Andalusite, being glassy and not greasy should rule out Topaz, so you are left with Quartz or possibly another Gem that is known to have formed as Clear crystals besides their' other known color ranges. You might want to consider Gems such as clear Beryl or Sapphire but there are more.


Frank

 

[Eu_citzen]

The hardness would make me learn towards beryl. But double check if there really was a scratch under magnification.

 

[G.O.Eye]

Yeah! You may want to do what EU said scratch and check under magnification, clear beryl is extremely extremely rare the only known source is from the Himalayan's and extremely valuable depending on the 4 C's an quantity, but it best to deduces what it may be, super nice, it's great to find transparent stones.