Quartz ("Faden" crystals) (ex Kay Robertson Collection)

Item Description

When it comes to Alpine minerals, the Quartz crystals from Switzerland have always carried a certain distinction. They always seem to be a bit better (and often more expensive) than their Italian, Austrian and French counterparts. This piece is a gorgeous display specimen of Quartz from a lesser known locality called Gauli (label as the Gauligletscher {Gauli Glacier}) in the state of Bern. It features gorgeous, sharp, lustrous, GEMMY, colorless crystals measuring up to 3.3 cm, but the most important aspect is that they host "Faden" inclusions that run the length of the crystals. "Faden" is the German word for string, and if you look closely, you can see the white colored "string"-like inclusions inside the Quartzes. There is a bit of a greenish "Chlorite" included in certain areas for a nice two-tone effect. The piece displays beautifully on a thin layer of matrix, and there is very little in the way of damage. Classic beautiful material from the Swiss Alps. Ex Kay Robertson Collection (#9740). Kay is a prominent California collector, who specialized in European classics (see the article in the March-April, 2007 Mineralogical Record and the 50+ page article in the German Magazine "Mineralien Welt" November-December 2017).