Quartz Var. Smoky Quartz

Unknown Owner

Help improve this recordNo owner is registered for this specimen yet. If it's yours or you know more about it, you can add the owner, provenance, publications and other details.

Gemmy and transparent, this huge alpine 'gwindel' crystal is pale smoky-brown in colour. Formed upon a bed of smaller Smoky Quartz crystals, on matrix, the group of aligned tabular Quartz crystals which combine to form the gwindel display a prominent 'twist' as each rotates very slightly from parallel to the one before, providing a magnificent and large demonstration of how 'gwindel' gets its name. This extremely unusual habit of Quartz was first discovered in the European Alps but have since been found in other alpine-type regions of the world, but are always exceptionally rare in comparison to typical prismatic crystals. There is very slight chipping to the tip and edge of the 'final' end crystal in the gwindel group, but this is very minor. At 10 cm wide and with the longest individual component crystal reaching 9.3 cm in length, this is a world-class gwindel from Zinggenstöcke. It is not known if it came from the famous Rufibach cleft, but there is a strong likelihood it did. Ex Robert Brandstetter Collection it is also accompanied by a label from Paul and Gabi von Kanel-Nell.