crystal or quartz?

BobD · Post by **BobD** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 9:09 pm

a little over a year ago i was in the hiddenite area of north carolina when i heard a person could dig crystals so i thought i'd give it a shot. after digging for most of the afternoon these are the stones i came up with, can anyone help identify them? sorry for how bad the pics are but i have a cheap camera i also got a small geode but it is nothing like the one i saw in another post here it only has plain white crystals in it
thanks in advance on any help i can get

flight _of_angelwings · Post by **flight _of_angelwings** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 12:55 am

Hi,

The pictures at the top are amethyst and citrine smoky and clear quartz. Citrine, amethyst and clearand smoky quartz are all in the same family of quartz. The amethyst is the purple one and citrine is the gold yellow color.  the grey looking one is smoky quartz.   You have a nice amethyst cluster that is the one with a few points on it known as terminators, that is on the right hand side in the middle.

By the look of the one at the bottom I would say that is fluorite. fluorite has many many different colors within it that all layer on each other. Fluorite is one of my most favourite crystals and the piece you have looks grogeous.

Wow To just fossick them yourself is truly wonderful they are beautiful pieces

BobD · Post by **BobD** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:25 am

thanks for the quick reply i was wondering is there some way to polish them because it seems like no matter what i wash them with they never seem to come clean in this picture is the one on the top right amethyst also? soory about the size i'll work on learning on how to resize them

flight _of_angelwings · Post by **flight _of_angelwings** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:47 am

BobD wrote:thanks for the quick reply i was wondering is there some way to polish them because it seems like no matter what i wash them with they never seem to come clean in this picture is the one on the top right amethyst also? soory about the size i'll work on learning on how to resize them

Hi,

When I collect and fossick my own quartz from the ground it will always be very dirty etc.  To clean it I use a peroxide just like the ones hairdressers use.  I get a toothbrush and rub the peroxide all over the stone brushing it and the dirt will break down and leave the quartz looking shiny and beautiful.  You must although make sure you have quartz as if you use peroxide on other crystals it can do much damage.

Its hard to tell by the picture if the top right crystal is amethyst or fluorite.  Sorry!  Maybe someone else can see it better than I can though!

BobD · Post by **BobD** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:03 am

ok thanks i have quite a few pieces that i can try it out on in the next year or so i'm going to try to go back there and get some more i have one stone that i kept because i thought it was tiger eye but when i got home and checked tiger eye's out and the rock i have has lines like tiger but it's a different color

flight _of_angelwings · Post by **flight _of_angelwings** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:17 am

BobD wrote:ok thanks i have quite a few pieces that i can try it out on in the next year or so i'm going to try to go back there and get some more i have one stone that i kept because i thought it was tiger eye but when i got home and checked tiger eye's out and the rock i have has lines like tiger but it's a different color

Hi what color is it though as I have seen green, blue and red tiger eye.

BobD · Post by **BobD** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:26 am

here it is the reason i thought it was tiger was because of the lines in it
the color is almost white to a dark color like brown

flight _of_angelwings · Post by **flight _of_angelwings** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:13 am

BobD wrote:here it is the reason i thought it was tiger was because of the lines in it
the color is almost white to a dark color like brown

It's hard to say, I know it isnt tiger eye it looks more like agate or possibly some type of jasper possibly!

BobD · Post by **BobD** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 11:47 am

after looking around i found some pic's and it does look like agate thanks again

gauloise82 · Post by **gauloise82** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:13 pm

Frankly, this nest not obvious to see. One would need the opinion of an expert. But, with the fact, it is to collect?
philippe

Gem · Post by **Gem** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:52 pm

Its always very hard to accurately tell what a stone is from a picture.
In that last picture the pink stone looks more like Rose Quartz. The wonderful blue stone makes me think that is Chlorophane Fluorite. did you use a flash or any artificial light to take the pic? It seems to be flourescing

 Do you know the mines name? That way we could probably be more accurate.

You could polish the stones with grit papers that are quite easily available, starting with a very rough then going through finer and finer, but to be honest you might do more damage than good, and they look rather beautiful as they are

BobD · Post by **BobD** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:25 pm

Gem wrote:Its always very hard to accurately tell what a stone is from a picture.
In that last picture the pink stone looks more like Rose Quartz. The wonderful blue stone makes me think that is Chlorophane Fluorite. did you use a flash or any artificial light to take the pic? It seems to be flourescing Do you know the mines name? That way we could probably be more accurate.

You could polish the stones with grit papers that are quite easily available, starting with a very rough then going through finer and finer, but to be honest you might do more damage than good, and they look rather beautiful as they are

the name of the mine is the hiddenite mine if i'm not mistaken they have a total of 62 different gemstones can be found there oh and yes i did use a flash i'll take some more without it and see how they turn out

Gem · Post by **Gem** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:37 pm

Lolol doesnt narrow it down much then does it !

BobD · Post by **BobD** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:50 pm

Gem wrote:Lolol doesnt narrow it down much then does it !

no not by very much guess i've got quite a few pics to go though i'm still messing around with the settings on my camera to try to get a good picture without using the flash but so far it doesn't look good. lol

sorceress426 · Post by **sorceress426** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 2:17 pm

North Carolina's hiddenite area is rich in rocks & gems.  You definitely have citrine and amethyst, Lower right is flourite quartz.  Lower left appears to be aqua marine quartz. Second picture - The blue with gold speckles is lapis lazuli. The blue green is turquoise.  The larger stone appears to be raw rhodolite quartz.

As far as cleaning, use a mild liquid soap and water. Pat dry and use a sesame, almond or canola oil and rub stone well in your hands. use a soft cloth to wipe off excess.

To smooth out edges use a soft grit sanding paper or a buffing block for finger nails. If you want a more polished sheen use a tumble filled with sand on low. Hope this helps.

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crystal or quartz?

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