Quartz ("Herkimer Diamonds") (ex Dr. Ed David Collection)

Item Description

A classic, FINE quality specimen of the famous "Herkimer Diamond" (now apparently they are called "Herkimer-style") Quartz from the Ace of Diamonds Mine in upstate New York. This material is world famous for it's superior form, quality, GEMMINESS and appearance. This specimen is a near "floater" group consisting of razor-sharp, highly lustrous, WATER-CLEAR, colorless, doubly-terminated simple hexagonal prisms of Quartz with pronounced terminations and very little in the way of prism faces. This particular habit of Quartz is not terribly common as most Quartz crystals are long and slender, so these stand out as unusual and attractive for the species. If you look closely you can see small black areas of anthracite/graphite and/or petroleum. There are only a few minor imperfections, but overall the piece is in great shape and displays beautifully as you can see from the photos. It's not common to find such TRANSPARENT crystals like this in such a lovely group. Now a large number of the specimens from this locality are repaired, and though I'm not 100% that this is the case with this particular specimen, it's a safe assumption. Additionally, it should be noted that the label accompanying this piece states that there were five crystals on the specimen, but only four are present. Perhaps this was an oversight / mistake or perhaps one of the crystals simply fell off over the years. It doesn't mattter as the piece is still incredibl elegant, showy and TOP QUALITY for the material. From the world-famous mineral collection of Dr. Ed David, a PhD electrical engingeer and the science advisor to President Richard Nixon and the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology from 1970 to 1973. The piece is valued in the inventory at $2,500.