Faden Quartz (1980’s find)

Locality: Mt Ida, Montgomery County, Arkansas, USA

Uncommon for Arkansas, this piece also has a special history. This near crystal-clear Faden Quartz came from a special collection of these insane Faden crystals in the 1980’s. At one time, this piece sat in the warehouse of notable collector and dealer, Chris Wright. Of the lot we received, this piece had exceptional clarity and a good thick Faden thread. Chris had a $40 sticker on it in 1985, we saw no reason to change that price when we can offer such a good deal.

Faden Quartz is a variety of quartz, with the composition SiO2. The name comes from the German word for “thread,” and it was described from its white thread-like line by mineral collectors. Its familiar pale thread reflects repeated cracking and healing during growth.

Mt Ida in Montgomery County, Arkansas is one of the best-known quartz crystal localities in the Ouachita Mountains, with a number of quartz crystal mines in the surrounding area. The locality is especially associated with Arkansas quartz crystals, and nearby collecting sites have also produced calcite from quartz veins in Bigfork chert. It remains highly relevant to collectors today because the Mt Ida area is widely recognized as a classic source area for crystal collecting in Arkansas.