PHANTOM QUARTZ

Specifications

Mineral Class: Tectosilicate
Crystal System: Hexagonal
Hardness: 7
Luster: Vitreous
Diaphaneity: Transparent to Nearly Opaque
Colors: Colorless, Milky White, Red, Orange, Green, Purple, Brown
Symbolizes: Growth
Source: Worldwide

Phantom Quartz is a variety of macrocrystalline quartz that forms over a pre-existing crystal. Quartz is a mineral composed of silicon and oxygen atoms in a crystalline structure called a tetrahedra. Quartz is the second most abundant mineral on earth after feldspar. Quartz crystals exist in two basic forms, the normal a-type and the high temperature b-type. The temperature cut-off between the two is 575°C. Phantom Quartz mostly occurs in clear quartz, but are also prevalent in smoky quartz, citrine, and amethyst. Phantoms are created when a crystal growth is interrupted and then begins to form again creating one or more layers of a ghost-like crystal.