Does the cold affect crystals?

[silent energy]

I like to leave my crystals out at night when there is a full moon but up in Canada during this time it can get very cold at night. I noticed when I bring them in from the cold that my crystals are wet, I'm guessing from the frost or something. Does the cold affect the crystals in anyway?

Matt

[Astral Explorer]

I have wondered the same after leaving my Moldavite out in a meteor shower overnight they were extremely cold. I imagine that if the stone is really cold it will make it break or shatter easier, much as it does with metals and things of that nature. If the stone dissolves in water then the frost or whatever is causing the wetness could dissolve or destroy the stone as well. The wetness is most likely from the moisture in the air like you suggested.

[silent energy]

So you would advise against putting them out in the cold?

The only thing I remember about crystals in the cold was reading about a miner who was terribly frustrated when an internal crack developed in a quartz crystal. This is the kind we see in crystals, sometimes producing rainbows or a silvery "sheet" inside the crystal.

In this case, the crystal was about three feet long, and pristine. It would have been worth a whole lot of money, had he been able to get it above ground in that condition. He even wrapped it in a blanket to try and prevent it from warming up too abruptly when it transitioned from the cold of the mine to the warmer outside air.

No dice. He watched in frustration as an internal crack developed anyway, reducing the monetary value of the crystal.

Now, I don't know what the temperatures are like inside a mine. So I don't know what kind of temperature range would be enough to cause a crystal to develop an internal crack. But I would say if the temperature differential is really wide between the outside air, and the inside of the house, maybe leaving the crystals outside overnight, then taking them inside and suddenly exposing to the warmth of the house, isn't the greatest idea.

[psychoslice]

I couldn't imagine them being affected by the cold, when they have been through tremendous conditions to be what they are in the first place, I would think the cold would be nothing to them.

[Astral Explorer]

Originally Posted by psychoslice

I couldn't imagine them being affected by the cold, when they have been through tremendous conditions to be what they are in the first place, I would think the cold would be nothing to them.

Steel has been through tremendous conditions as well but the changes in cold & hot causes it's strength to diminish. Not to mention moisture causes steel to rust and steel has been through similar tremendous conditions as most crystal & gemstones. I am not saying that the cold whether is going to damage your crystals or gemstones but something changing from hot to cold constantly over an extended of period of time can cause changes in it. Much like how if you have a crack in your window of your car over the years of the weather changing from hot to cold that crack will begin to grow. Leaving them in the cold isn't necessarily going to be what harms them, but if you dropped them while they are extremely cold I imagine their strength is going to be weaker than it would otherwise. So just be careful once you bring them in, that's all I am saying.

Abrupt warming, after being very cold, probably is something to watch out for, as well. Think of how a cold glass reacts when it's suddenly filled with warm or hot liquid: there is a great risk of having it crack because of the sudden expansion caused by the hot liquid.

I don't think the crystals would necessarily shatter or break into separate pieces, but if the temperature range is wide enough, you might find internal fractures that weren't there before.