This AA-grade emerald-cut smoky quartz features a rich, evenly saturated color and the high-quality cut enhances the color and depth. Use this gemstone as a focal point in a simple pendant or ring, or pair it with other gems that offset and highlight its attractive brown hue, such as citrine, to create more complex designs. Smoky quartz—often incorrectly called smoky topaz—ranges from almost clear to nearly opaque. The color is the result of free silicon within the gemstone released by natural irradiation. One of the most common minerals, quartz comes in many varieties and colors. The two main categories are macrocrystalline, which are usually transparent and crystals are visible, and cryptocrystalline, which appear translucent or opaque. The many varieties of quartz each offer distinct characteristics and, according to folklore, their own powers and purposes. The emerald-cut has a rectangle shape and cut corners. Its facets are concentric planes that resemble stair-steps around the circumference of the gemstone, above and below the girdle.