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Oh, those double terminated sparkling creations of quartz! Yes quartz, but the smaller specimens truly shine like diamonds. Herkimer diamonds primarily are mined in Herkimer, NY, but quartz of this configuration can also be found in Mexico, Spain, Tanzania, and China. The folks from New York boast that their “diamonds” are about half a point harder (on the Moh’s Hardness Scale) than material from other locales.
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Known in the mineral community as dogtooth calcite, the name Stellar Beam was coined by Katrina Raphaell. These crystals have the shape of dog’s teeth or more in keeping with their energy, rocket ships. They are classified as scalenohedron and can be single or double terminated. I have also seen these crystals in yellow, red and white. The golden ones most commonly come from the Elmwood Mine in Tennessee (which is now closed) and can have a high translucency. I also have seen some beautiful pieces from Missouri. A rock hound friend of mine found a pocket of Stellar Beams in Montana, a relatively rare locale. These crystals are a richer gold and somewhat less translucent. I was able to purchase much of what he found.
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This is one of our favorite minerals and we often refer to the color as “better than emerald”. It is a copper silicate that is rather rare, and is mined mostly in southwest Africa and Russia. On occasion, you’ll see a piece from Arizona but the crystals are much smaller, usually almost a druse. Since dioptase is rare, it can be quite expensive, especially when the crystals are large and sparkly.
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Selenite is a mineral that comes in many forms. It crystallizes in a form resembling a fishtail, a curving horn, optically clear windows both large and small with perfect terminations, and long wands sometimes found with water bubbles. These forms usually come from Mexico.
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Green tourmaline ranges in color from the palest green to dark green verging on black. In the middle of this spectrum is lustrous, translucent apple green tourmaline.
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