Cairngorm smoky quartz

The Cairngorm, a smoky-to-brown quartz from the granite of the Cairngorm Mountains, is Scotland’s national gemstone, set in the tops of the great dress-kilt brooches and the hilts of dirks. The Victorian “pebble hunters” scoured these peaks for it. This is a NATIONAL PARK now and collecting from the high ground is restricted, so treat this as heritage: see the great stones in the Highland museums, and know the mountains they came from.