Amazonite and Smoky Quartz Specimens from Florissant, Colorado
Amazonite and Smoky Quartz from the Pikes Peak granite of central Colorado is one of the few American mineral combinations that stands beside anything produced anywhere in the world. The blue-green Microcline against dark, sharply terminated Smoky Quartz is instantly recognizable, and collectors who specialize in it can usually name the claim and often the pocket a specimen came from. Every Colorado piece we carry comes from the Smoky Hawk Mine at Florissant, Teller County, or the immediate Florissant area.
Amazonite and Smoky Quartz Specimens from Florissant, Colorado
Amazonite and Smoky Quartz from the Pikes Peak granite of central Colorado is one of the few American mineral combinations that stands beside anything produced anywhere in the world. The blue-green Microcline against dark, sharply terminated Smoky Quartz is instantly recognizable, and collectors who specialize in it can usually name the claim and often the pocket a specimen came from. Every Colorado piece we carry comes from the Smoky Hawk Mine at Florissant, Teller County, or the immediate Florissant area.
Featured Colorado Amazonite Specimens
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Amazonite and Smoky Quartz
$5,300.00 -
Amazonite & Smoky Quartz
$1,250.00
The Florissant pocket zone
The Amazonite occurs in miarolitic pockets within the Pikes Peak granite batholith, a coarse-grained intrusion running through Teller and Park Counties. These are not vein deposits. They are open cavities, sometimes no larger than a fist and occasionally large enough to crawl into, where crystals grew freely into empty space. That is why the material is so well formed and why so little of it survives intact: the pegmatites are usually naturally collapsed, and crystals separate from the matrix long before anyone reaches them.
Amazonite is a blue-green variety of microcline, a potassium feldspar. The color is attributed to trace lead in the crystal structure and varies pocket to pocket, from a pale, almost gray-green to the saturated blue-green that commands the strongest premiums. The associated smoky quartz owes its color to natural irradiation from the surrounding granite over geologic time. Cleavelandite, a bladed white variety of albite, is a common association and adds contrast on the better plates, as on this Triple Eagle Pocket Amazonite with Cleavelandite.
The Dorris claims
Most of the finest Colorado Amazonite reaching the market over the last several decades has been mined and prepared by Joseph Dorris and his family, who work the claims at Smoky Hawk. Their reputation rests on two things: they recover material that would be destroyed by less careful work, and they are completely direct about every repair and restoration they perform. We have known the Dorris family for over thirty-five years, and that relationship is why we can tell you exactly what happened to a specimen before it reached us.
Frank Smith and Joe Dorris together at a Mineral Convention
What makes a fine Amazonite and Smoky Quartz specimen
Color saturation. Deep blue-green amazonite is worth a multiple of pale material. It is the first thing an experienced buyer evaluates and the hardest thing to judge from a poor photograph, which is why we shoot every specimen in consistent lighting.
Contrast and composition. The appeal is the interplay between blue-green feldspar and near-black quartz. A specimen where the smoky quartz is well positioned, sharply terminated, and gemmy in transmitted light will outperform one where the crystals are jumbled or the quartz is dull. Our competition-quality Smoky Hawk miniature is a useful reference for what that balance looks like at the top of the range.
Termination quality. Look for complete, undamaged terminations on the primary quartz crystal. One dramatic, sharp termination usually beats several mediocre ones, which is what makes the Fubar Pocket smoky quartz with amazonite work at 10 by 11 centimeters.
White caps. Some amazonite crystals carry a white cap of contrasting feldspar at the termination. Collectors specifically look for it.
Associated species. Occasionally a pocket produces a piece carrying more than two species. Our amazonite, smoky quartz, fluorite and cleavelandite plate is one of those, and pieces like it cross over to collectors who follow Colorado pocket fluorite.
Pocket provenance. Named pockets matter here in a way they do not for most species.
Named pockets and why provenance matters
Colorado amazonite is one of the few American collecting areas where individual pockets are named, documented, and remembered. Specimens currently in our inventory carry labels from the Triple Eagle Pocket, the Fubar Pocket, the Winter Solstice Pocket cabinet specimen, and the Hole in the Wall II Pocket piece. Those names are not decoration. A collector who has followed this material knows the character of each find, and provenance affects both desirability and resale. When we list a piece the pocket goes on the label if it is documented, and we say so plainly when it is not.
A note on repairs
Repairs are standard in this material and always disclosed here. The pegmatites are collapsed, and crystals routinely come out separated from the matrix. A competently executed, disclosed repair on a Colorado amazonite plate is normal and accepted at every level of the market, including competition. What is not acceptable is an undisclosed repair, or a restoration presented as original condition. Every specimen we list states how many repairs it carries and what was done.
What we currently carry
Eight Colorado specimens are in hand as of this update, from a Rocket Mine, Florissant small cabinet at $1,250 up to a $6,800 plate carrying smoky quartz, amazonite, fluorite and cleavelandite from the Smoky Hawk Mine. Five are named-pocket specimens. The highest-grade pieces sit in the Vault Collection. Availability changes as pieces sell, so the grid below reflects current stock. More about Smith & Sons.
I have known the Dorris family for over thirty-five years, and most of the Smoky Hawk material I carry came to me through them. These pegmatites are naturally collapsed, so almost nothing comes out of the ground whole, and a great deal of Colorado amazonite on the market has been repaired by someone who would rather you did not ask. Joe documents exactly what he did to a piece, and I pass that on to you without exception. When I am looking at new material from the claim, the first thing I check is the depth of the blue-green and whether the smoky quartz is positioned to be seen. Everything else can be worked around. Those two things either happened in the pocket or they did not.
Frequently Asked Questions
Almost all fine amazonite on the market comes from pegmatite pockets in the Pikes Peak granite of Teller and Park Counties, Colorado, principally the Florissant and Crystal Peak areas. The Smoky Hawk Mine is among the best known producing claims in the district.
It is a variety of microcline feldspar whose blue-green color is attributed to trace lead within the crystal structure. Saturation varies significantly between pockets, which is one reason pocket provenance matters.
Yes. The pegmatites these come from are naturally collapsed, so crystals separate before or during recovery. Skillfully executed repairs are standard and accepted. They should always be disclosed, and we disclose them on every listing.
A contrasting white feldspar termination on the amazonite crystal. It adds visual contrast and is specifically sought by collectors of this material.
Amazonite color is generally stable in normal display conditions. Smoky quartz can lighten under prolonged direct sunlight, so display away from a south-facing window and use LED lighting rather than heat-producing bulbs.
Currently small cabinet through cabinet, roughly 5 cm to 12 cm across, from $1,250 to $6,800.
Browse available Colorado amazonite specimens
Every specimen is photographed as received, measured, and described with locality, pocket where documented, and condition including any repairs. Looking for something specific from a particular pocket? Contact us and we will tell you what we have and what we can find.
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Amazonite & Smoky Quartz
$6,500.00 -
Amazonite & Smoky Quartz
$1,250.00 -
Amazonite and Smoky Quartz
$4,750.00 -
Amazonite and Smoky Quartz
$5,300.00 -
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Smoky Quartz with Amazonite
$5,800.00 -
Smoky Quartz with Amazonite
$5,800.00 -
