Dreamy large smoky quartz triple crystal with phantoms

A fantastically large smoky quartz triple-crystal from Zimbabwe, with visible phantom layers in the columns. At 84 cm in height, the specimen is a museum-quality collector's item.

Smoky quartz is a variety of quartz, colored by trace amounts of aluminum plus natural radiation exposure from radioactively enriched host rocks. Triplets are a rare twinning variety with three twinned crystals that share their growth axes.

Phantoms are internal growth stages: in one phase, the material was colored by trace elements, then another phase began and grew over the earlier layers. The phantom lines document the growth history as visible stratigraphy inside the crystals.

Zimbabwe supplies clear quartz material from pegmatite deposits in the Karoo Basin extension. Such large triplets with documented phantoms are classified as top gemological specimens in the collector's trade.

A collector's item of museum dimensions and premium crystallographic constellation.