Himalayan Quartz

According to The Quartz Page, the Himalaya was only recently recognised as a source of excellent rock crystal; much material comes from Alpine-type fissures in gneisses and metamorphosed schists of the Ganesh Himal region north of Kathmandu, and rock crystal apparently occurs along the whole east–west extent of the range. Mindat rates Ganesh Himal (Dhading District, Bagmati Province, Nepal) as a world-class quartz locality, with the Lapa and Tipling quartz mines in Ruby Valley; its specimens are commonly associated with chlorite, albite, titanite and adularia. At the Tipling Mine many crystals grew in chlorite pocket clay and are partly or completely filled with dark green chlorite. Clear crystals also come from quartz veins in quartzite in the Kullu Valley, Himachal Pradesh, India. Retailers often sell Himalayan quartz under the names of individual mountains or massifs.

Himalayan quartz has the ordinary properties of quartz, so nothing in the stone itself proves a Himalayan origin; the name depends on provenance. Labels can be wrong: The Quartz Page describes specimens sold as from "Indian Nepal" and as from Arkansas that, on comparison, were from the Kullu Valley in India. Dense green chlorite inclusions are typical of Nepalese material but also occur in quartz from Alpine-type fissures elsewhere, such as the Alps and Norway.

Himalayan quartz has the durability of quartz: hardness 7, no real cleavage and very good wearability, with no special care instructions. Like all quartz it is brittle with a conchoidal fracture, so hard knocks can chip it.

The Japanese retailer Pascle says that because the Himalaya is regarded in several religions as a sacred place closest to heaven, crystal from these mountains is believed to hold the power of the gods. The same retailer says the stone is believed to aid meditation and to have strong purifying and evil-repelling power, and it sells it as a charm for those purposes.