Quartz (closed Gwindel)

Item Description

Gwindel, or twisted, quartz specimens, are a mainstay of Alpine mineral deposits and yet only occur in a few countries, so they are few and far between on the collector market from anywhere except Switzerland and Russia, from which they fetch premium prices. However, this comes form a modern find in Pakistan, which Gene was early in on buying. This is a fine example for the size class, showing closed gwindels, as they call it because the termination edges, which are usually serrated and complicated on most gwindels with points sticking out to the left and right, are fused into what looks more like a single termination edge on this piece. Not only that, but it is asymmetric, which is also unusual. So this "closed" gwindel has edges that simply look weird, from other quartz and even from each other. It shows a slight twist, perhaps 15 degrees. But the dominant feature here is not the twist as in usual gwindels, but those amazing edges. Fine, and complete all around.