Superb twisted Smoky Quartz gwindel (Belsky Coll.)

Item Description

There is no type of mineral specimen which more clearly says "Alpine classic" than the beautiful twisted-stack habit of quartz known as gwindel quartz. Typically sharp, lustrous and gemmy, always distinctive-looking, the colorless to dark smoky brown gwindels from the French and Swiss Alps have always been top-shelf collectors' items", according to a 2007 Mineralogical Record article by Tom Moore. Gwindel quartz is the intergrowth of (mostly) tabular quartz crystals in which the main crystallographic axes are more or less twisted with respect the neighbouring crystals. This results in a contorted (twisted) appearance. The reason for the twisting is the presence of a screw axis in the crystal structure (Zorz, 2009). They are found mainly in some alpine-type clefts. "Gwindel" is from German, meaning "gewunden" = contorted, twisted, wound. This classic specimen is water-clear, has a sparkling glassy luster and rich smoky color. For the size, this gemmy, brilliantly sparkling twisted gwindel smoky quartz is superb. It looks fabulous from either side and is pristine. Ex Howard Belsky Collection. Valued at $2000-2500. A real spiker for this auction from the well known suite amassed by Belsky as a dealer and collector before his untimely passing in the mid 1980s