Smoky quartz is a grey, translucent variety of quartz. It ranges in clarity from almost complete transparency to a brownish-gray crystal that is almost opaque.It comes in every shade of brown, from a light tan to nearly black.

Sunglasses with flat, thin panes of smoky quartz, were used in in the 12th century. The dark glasses were worn by Chinese judges to hide their facial expressions during court proceedings! In Scotland, smoky quartz from the Cairngorm mountain range in the Scottish Highlands was used in jewelry and the stones accordingly were called Cairngorms.

Smokey Quartz is a birthstone for the zodiac signs of Scorpio and Capricorn. It is said to be a powerful grounding gemstone. It stimulates and balances all chakra centers, particularly the root chakra.