Quartz (var: Smoky) (var: Gwindel) (ex Dr. Stephen Smale Collection)

Item Description

Quartz is one of those species that is found in a wide variety of colors, habit and styles. It's such an abundant and diverse species, that some people are able to build entire collections of only Quartz. One of the most iconic crystal habits for Quartz are the famous Gwindels, most famously those from the European Alps, but especially those from Switzerland. The term "Gwindel" comes from the German "gewunden", which means helicoidal or twisted, hence the name twisted Quartz. The Swiss Gwindels just seem to have a slight edge on other Gwindels from anywhere else as they are often just bit finer in terms of quality. I've seen Gwindels that range from completely colorless to a dark Morion color, and everything in between from Switzerland, and this one shows a beautiful rich smoky hue. The Gwindel itself shows only a very slight twist, but it's notably sharp, lustrous and gemmy, and it's sitting so perfectly among the associated single prisms of Smoky Quartz and the tiny bit of underlain matrix. Excellent condition all around and very showy. This is classic Alpine material and prized by collectors around the world. Valued at $900 in the inventory. Ex Dr. Stephen Smale Collection. Along with amassing one of the finest private mineral collections in the world, Steve is a renowned mathematician. His accomplishments include being awarded the Fields Medal in 1966 along with being the awarded the Wolf Prize in mathematics in 2007. You can read Steve's bio on the Mineralogical Record website ( https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/smalestephen/ ) or on Wikipedia.