17" Extremely Fluorescent Hyalite Opal over Smoky Quartz - Nambia

Extremely Fluorescent Hyalite Opal over Smoky Quartz - Nambia #334661

This is by far the most breathtaking and alluring hyalite opal specimen we have ever had available, let alone encountered. The entire specimen measures 17" wide and features colorless to green hyalite opal encrusting a plate of smoky quartz crystals. Many of the smoky quartz crystals can be seen peeking through the hyalite opal and clustered around the periphery. Under both longwave and shortwave UV light, the hyalite opal exhibits a vibrant green fluorescence. A photo of this fluorescence can be seen above. The reaction to shortwave UV is a result of trace uranyl ions.

Comes with a display stand.

Hyalite is a transparent to translucent variety of opal that typically bears a globular structure. An amorphous form of silica (SiO2), hyalite opal forms as a volcanic sublimate in volcanic or pegmatic rock and is thereby considered a mineraloid. It can be referred to as water opal, jalite, or even Muller's glass, named after the man who discovered it, Franz-Joseph Müller von Reichenstein. It has a hardness of 5.5–6 on the Mohs scale and exhibits conchoidal fracturing.

Smoky quartz is a grey-brown to black variety of quartz. This common name is derived from the appearance of smoke within the quartz crystal. Depending on the location and the chemicals present during formation, smoky quartz can appear opaque black, but it is typically translucent to some extent. It is believed that the quartz gains this color from a combination of natural irradiation and aluminum impurities.

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