Using the ultrasonic pulse-echo technique and a newly developed method to treat the data, all the elastic compliances of α-quartz have been obtained as a function of hydrostatic pressure up to 1 GPa with great accuracy. Fifteen independent measurements were performed in five directions of high symmetry (X , Y , Z , Y t and Z t). The pressure dependence of the six second-order elastic and two piezoelectric constants were deduced. The pressure derivatives of c14 and c44 are positive, whereas that of c66 is negative, in contradiction to previously published results. Under ambient conditions, the linear and bulk moduli Ba0 103.4(0.5) GPa, Bc0 137.0(0.5) GPa and B0 37.5(0.2) GPa calculated from our determination of the elastic tensor are in good agreement with the published values. However, we find a clear discrepancy with published values for the pressure derivative of the bulk modulus B t 4.7(0.5). From these results, the Born stability criteria have been calculated as a function of pressure and compared with previous results. Their behavior can help to explain the structural instability of α-quartz at around 18 GPa.

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