Hello Everyone : )

My passion is for completely natural quartz and I do not like fakes! Although I often admire the labor involved with making some of these fakes they are still fakes

Below I have written some info about quartz fakes to help educate the ebay community about these fakes.

If you see someone selling these fakes without labeling them as fakes then dont buy from them. If you dont buy them.......then they wont sell em : )

 

This first scam is at the top of my list.....

Azezutulite / Satyaloka

Azezutulite and Satyaloka are scams

You won't find this stuff listed in any mineralogical records because the locations given are not correct and there were never any mines that produced quartz by this name!

Azezutulite is one of the simplest frauds on ebay

These are nothing more than pieces of regular quartz

NONE of these are from a "secret" or "old" pocket in North Carolina or India

They are bought retail, re-named, and then sold for as much as 5 times the price paid by the seller

Several sellers of this stuff are buying our quartz from Arkansas then they re-list them for much more than what they paid!!! Even my own quartz has been twisted in this way!!

Details of this fraud can be found at "mindat.org" and "the-vug.com"

Please do not fall for this scam, it only encourages more frauds to be listed on ebay : (

 

Glass Crystal Points From China

These are all over ebay and they are nothing more than pieces of man made glass!

These glass points have been cut and polished to the shape of a crystal point or DT

These are usually completely clear and are of enormous size

If you see a 3 foot long crystal point that is water clear from tip to base, listed for $10, then it is most likely a fake. A natural crystal of this clarity and size would fetch 1000's of dollars

These slag glass points usually have odd looking fractures in them. These fractures are man made using a cloth and a ball peen hammer to give the glass a more "natural" look.

I have also seen the fractures made by heating the glass then dipping it in some room temperature water...thereby producing the fractures

Man made Fractures in a Glass Crystal Point

 

Colored Crystal Points From China

These may be any color but are usually red or yellow

Listings may say that the points are made by melting natural quartz and mixing in some metal

I was also informed that these are being sold as crystal balls

These too are nothing more than man made GLASS

                                                   

 

Fake Smokey Quartz From Arkansas

This stuff is all over the place and many collectors have been fooled by it!

This is regular clear quartz that has went through a Radiation Treatment to give it the Jet Black Smokey Color!

Many sellers claim that the color comes from a "heat treatment" but "heat" does not produce smokey quartz, Radiation does!!

In nature the earth produces small amounts of radiation over millions of years. This gives natural smokey crystals light wisps of smokey color

Some sellers also claim that man made radiated smokey quartz is pretty much the same thing as natural smokeys. Anyone who knows what natural smokey quartz looks like will beg to differ.

Here are some tell tale signs that a piece has been radiated to make it smokey

1. Jet black color.....and I mean Black!

2. White base......milky quartz cannot be turned smokey

3. No transparency or minimal transparency. These will turn transparent brown if left in the sun too long making them harder to spot.

4. No zoning.....Natural smokies have variations in the smokey color as seen below.

 

        Fake Arkansas Smokey Quartz            

 

Natural Arkansas Smokey Quartz

 

 

Polished Quartz Labeled as Natural

There is nothing natural about polished quartz except for the quartz itself. The whole form and crystal shape is man made

Polished crystals have dull edges unlike the sharp clean lines of naturally formed quartz

Polished crystals are often cut flat on the base 

Here are some things natural crystals have that set them apart from the polished pieces

Growth Lines

Record Keepers

Barnacles

Intense Natural Shine

 

Titanium Gas Phantoms

These have been around for quite some time and they are totally bogus!

Long ago a crystal miner here in Arkansas made up this fancy name to raise the price of his pieces.

Some sellers claim that they have been tested and shown to contain Titanium

A Well Known & Trusted Geologist here in Arkansas tested these and found no traces of Titanium! The info can easily be found on the internet

Anyone who understands physics knows that Titanium Cannot Be Turned Into A Gas

The interior white wisps are Gas Inclusions.........but not titanium and there is nothing special about the gas inclusions. Want to know what gives white quartz its milky color.......tiny gas bubbles! Sometimes the bubbles are large and give the illusion of a metallic shine.

The eruptions seen on the faces of these are due to rapid growth.......not the presence of the gas! A few mines produce markings on the faces that look like lightning......this is caused by Calcite making contact with the face during growth.

Smooth surface growth = Rapid Formation

Lightning Shaped Surface Markings = Calcite Contact

The mineral content of these is no different from any other clear quartz!

 

Crystal Flowers From China

These are the most rediculous thing that I have ever seen!

This is nothing more than a round plastic ball with crystal points glued to it! Come on, how lame.

        

 

Fake Citrine

Brazil produces alot of amethyst. So much in fact that they find other ways to market it. Along the line somewhere someone figured out that amethyst turns a very dark citrine color when cooked in a oven.

This fake citrine is a much darker color than the real deal

It is usually seen in the common Brazilian amethyst forms.....Druzy...and stemmed points

Fake Citrine from Brazil

 

Green Quartz From China

There are two types of green quartz.......

Natural Green Chlorite included quartz

And fake green coated quartz

This stuff is produced by using heated water and high pressure.....this causes damaged crystal clusters to form new growth that caps the damaged areas

When certain minerals are present during re-crystalization they can change the color of the re-formed quartz.

In the case of these green clusters chromium is used to achieve the green color

It is easy to see the difference here!

Bogus Green Quartz From China

 

Natural Green Chlorite Quartz

                                          

 

Aura Coated Quartz

Pictured above is a quartz cluster with a man made coating of metallic metal

These are made using high pressure, heat, and vaporized metals

I must admit that these look neat but I wont buy them because the coating isnt natural

Last summer myself and Matthew Price owner of Arrowhead Quartz Crystal Mine discovered a pocket of crystals with a prismatic coating of Iron Oxide

We started calling them Natural Auras and the name has stuck!

While the man made aura quartz gets its coating from a laboratory process, our natural aura pieces get thier coating from good ole mother earth

Anyone who wants all natural quartz will praise these pieces for thier all natural properties!

Natural Aura Quartz from Arrowhead Quartz Crystal Mine

 

Blue Phantom Crystals From Arkansas

The so called "blue" Manganese phantoms from Arkansas are in fact Shale Phantoms

They are not Manganese!!!

The following is a quote from respected Arkansas Geologist Mike Howard. "All of the so-called blue phantoms, black phantoms, manganese phantoms and manganese inclusions and carbon phantoms are actually finely divided particles of shale, a relatively common host rock in the Ouachita Mountains. I don't care what the crystal dealer or miner says, I have had many of these analyzed and the crystals are always aluminum-rich with no trace of manganese or carbon present."

Please dont let this info take anything away from Arkansas blue phantoms. They are stunning wonders of natural quartz with layered shale phantoms