Clear colorless topaz crystal on transparent quartz matrix with mirror reflection.
Macro view of a transparent quartz crystal face showing surface textures.
Detailed close up of transparent topaz and quartz crystal boundary zone.
Prismatic clear topaz crystal projecting from a striated quartz face.
Extreme macro of a highly transparent topaz crystal with internal fractures.

Topaz on Quarz

Topaz – Al2SiO4F2
Elements: Aluminum, Silicon, Oxygen, Fluorine
Class: Silicates – Nesosilicates
Crystal System: Orthorhombic
Hardness: 8
Topaz
Talc (1)Diamond (10)
Extremely hard. Harder than most gemstones.
Quartz – SiO2
Elements: Silicon, Oxygen
Class: Silicates – Tectosilicates
Crystal System: Hexagonal
Hardness: 7
Quartz
Talc (1)Diamond (10)
Very hard. Scratches glass and steel.
Origin: Dassu, Shigar Valley, Baltistan, Northern Areas – Pakistan History: Ex Conklin Collection
Did you know?

Topaz marks the number 8 on the Mohs hardness scale, the ten-mineral ruler geologists use to rank how hard a mineral is.

Pressing a quartz crystal makes it give off a precise electric beat, which is why it keeps time in nearly every watch and once tuned the radios of World War II, when good crystals were a strategic resource.

More Silicates

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Green vesuvianite crystal cluster from Canada with a mirror reflection.
Vesuvianite
Tetrahedrite with ChalcopyriteWulfenite Pseudocubic, Mimetite & Calcite