Cairngorm (mineral)
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Smoky quartz

This article is about the crystal. See Cairn Gorm for the Scottish mountain. See Cairngorm (Flex framework) for the open source software.

Cairngorm, also known as Smoky quartz or Smokey quartz, is a variety of quartz crystal found in the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland. It usually has a smokey yellow-brown colour, though some specimens are a grey-brown.

Like other quartz gems, it is a silicon dioxide crystal, with a small amount of ferric oxide impurity which gives it the characteristic colour.

It is used in Scottish jewellery and as a decoration on kilt pins and the handles of sgian dubhs (anglicised: skean dhu). The largest known cairngorm crystal is a 23.6 kg (52 pound) specimen kept at Braemar Castle.

Also see

• List of minerals

References

• Holden, Edward (1925). "The Cause of Color in Smoky Quartz and Amethyst" in American Mineralologist, vol. 9, pp. 203-252

External links

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EB1911:Cairngorm

• http://www.mindat.org/show.php?id=3689