Quartz (open & closed Gwindel) on Quartz - image 1

Quartz (open & closed Gwindel) on Quartz

Unknown Owner

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This matrix specimen shows off what seems to be a single 1-inch (2.6 cm across) gem crystal of the gwindel style of quartz, perched in contrast to a cluster of bright and gemmy sharp prismatic (regular and normal!) quartz points. The contrast is striking, and it displays beautifully with much more glassiness and luster in person than photos somehow can convey. However, this is a more rare and subtle specimen yet... Note that if you look more closely, it is not "quite" a closed gwindel but really half and half, one side open and one side closed by the terminology used to describe these strange quartz crystals! I cannot recall seeing the contrasting styles of gwindel so well displayed in a single crystal before - with perfect symmetry here, the left side being flat and simple (closed) with the right side being so clearly complex and serrated (open). This is a special miniature from a single special pocket seemingly found in 2016, this was one of a suite of 5 pristine and similarly gorgeous specimens, all showing different crystal habit, that Brent purchased fresh from the collectors (called, strahlers) through the Swiss dealership Siber & Siber in 2017. An excellent summary of the more technical aspects of these amazing styles of quartz, called Gwindels after the German word for "twisted," can be found here: http://www.quartzpage.de/gwindel.html