Antique Dirk

[Stratherrick]

ohneplo (Bruce)

I think that the stone in your dirk is a citrine. Having said that though, many Cairngorms are dark amber in colour. More usually, Cairngorms are darker shades and can be nearly black at times. Black Cairngorms are hard to find these days, though I do know of a semi-precious jeweller in my home town who still has a tray of them, and able to legally sell them, of sizes good enough for sgian dubh tops:

Shipton & Co Ltd, 18 Fleet St, Torquay, Devon, England, TQ1 1DB

Tel: 01803 292637

Technically, a Cairngorm stone falls under the grouping in quartzes known as smoky quartz, whereas citrines are from the grouping yellow quartzes. So, in that sense, the stone has to be either one or the other. Mind, that doesn't mean that the stone isn't from Scotland itself!

My understanding is that Cairngorms are not allowed to be mined anymore so, if you ever run across one, hold onto it!

Cheers

Bruce