Stone Mania

Smoky quartz is the black or brown variety of quartz and is so called because of its smoky colour. Only a few other brown or black minerals are ever cut for gemstones, some being smoky topaz, black beryl which is extremely rare and brown corundum.

Smoky quartz is frequently referred to as smoky topaz which is incorrect as topaz is a completely different mineral from quartz.

Queen Elizabeth I's court spiritualist's crystal ball was made from smoky quartz which also happens to be the national gemstone of Scotland, whose national sceptre includes a large smoky quartz on its top.

Some varieties of smoky quartz are known as Cairngorm, after the Cairn Gorm mountain in Scotland where it is mined.  The world's largest cairngorm crystal, which weighs in at 52lbs, is at Braemar Castle.

Many years ago, Poland was a significant supplier of smoky quartz but today it mainly comes from Australia, Brazil, India, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Russia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Tanzania, Scotland, Ukraine, Switzerland and California.

In crystal healing, smoky quartz is said to set aside wilfulness and headstrong behaviour.  It has the ability to transform negative energy and is particularly effective in dealing with anger and resentments. It is said that smoky quartz helps clear up communication difficulties and to dissolve mental and emotional blockages that can get in the way of perception or learning.  It is an excellent gemstone for alleviating panic attacks, anxiety, and nightmares and can form a shield against negative energy around the user.

Smoky quartz is graded 7 on Mohs scale of mineral hardness.

The links offer further reading on smoky quartz

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoky_quartz
http://www.galleries.com/minerals/gemstone/smoky_qu/smoky_qu.htm