Quartz

specimen number:
2292380

location:
Herkimer Co., New York, USA

description:
A grouping of colorless gemmy quartz crystals. These exhibit interesting inclusions and a skeletal habit. Complete all around with no points of attachment."Herkimer diamonds" are double-terminated quartz crystals found in outcroppings of Little Falls Dolostone, a Cambrian-age sedimentary rock formed approximately 500 million years ago in what is now Herkimer County, New York. During the rock's formation, ancient marine waters became trapped in cavities, creating highly saline, high-pressure environments where silicon-rich fluids slowly crystallized into exceptionally clear, eighteen-sided quartz crystals with natural facets at both ends. Historically, native Mohawk people and early European settlers found these sparkling stones loose in soil and streams, but formal geological interest and commercial extraction began in the late nineteenth century when quarrying exposed the underlying dolostone. Today, the region hosts active mining sites where collectors and commercial operations extract these unique crystals from vugs, which are often lined with a dark, hydrocarbon coating known as anthraxolite.

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