Quartz (Sceptre)

A friend introduced my father and me to a little-known locality called Sceptre Hill, located near the California Gulch area close to the Arizona-Mexico border. Reaching the site requires a bit of a hike and some challenging digging, but the effort is well worth it. Within the clay-filled cracks between altered rocks, collectors can find these delicate sceptre quartz crystals.

The crystals from Sceptre Hill are typically ice-clear, like the specimen shown here, and occasionally display a subtle amethystine purple hue. Many crystals feature fascinating "negative" space inclusions—hollow bubbles within the quartz—which sometimes contain small enhydro bubbles. Some specimens form into unusually whimsical shapes, which we jokingly refer to as "Dr. Seuss quartz."

This particular example is a classic colourless, six-sided sceptred prism—an elegant Arizona thumbnail from a little known locality. We are already looking forward to our next trip back!