Judging quality
The white line must run continuously through the plate and reach both edges. Pakistani Baluchistan material is the classic, often with chlorite or anatase.
Quartz
Faden Quartz
Tabular quartz plates carrying a white thread running through the crystal — the record of a fracture that kept re-healing as the rock slowly pulled apart. Each faden line is literally a scar the crystal grew across.
Care
Thin plates are fragile at the edges. Store flat.
History & lore
Faden is German for thread; Alpine strahler crystal hunters named the habit centuries ago.
Cultural history, recorded as tradition rather than as medical or scientific claim.
Common questions about Faden Quartz
- What is Faden Quartz?
- Tabular quartz plates carrying a white thread running through the crystal — the record of a fracture that kept re-healing as the rock slowly pulled apart. Each faden line is literally a scar the crystal grew across.
- How hard is Faden Quartz and what is it made of?
- Faden Quartz is a Quartz-family mineral with the composition SiO2. It crystallizes in the trigonal system and rates 7 on the Mohs hardness scale. It occurs in clear, colorless, white.
- Where does Faden Quartz come from?
- Notable localities for Faden Quartz include Baluchistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Switzerland (Alps).
- How do you tell good Faden Quartz from filler?
- The white line must run continuously through the plate and reach both edges. Pakistani Baluchistan material is the classic, often with chlorite or anatase.
- How do you care for Faden Quartz?
- Thin plates are fragile at the edges. Store flat.
See it in person
Photographs only go so far
Both rooms are open six days a week, and there is always someone happy to pull pieces out of the case so you can compare them under the light.