Herkimer Diamond
quartz
Not diamonds, exceptionally clear double-terminated quartz that grew free-floating in 500-million-year-old dolostone pockets in upstate New York. The natural facets are so bright they look cut. People carry it for clarity, intuition and communication. Tradition attaches it to the element air, the third-eye, crown chakra, Mercury.
Seen · you don't have this one yet
Mineral facts
Hardness
7 Mohs
Formula
SiO2
Family
quartz
Where it comes from
Herkimer County, New York, USA (true), Pakistan (lookalike), China (lookalike), Mexico (lookalike)
What it is
Not diamonds, exceptionally clear double-terminated quartz that grew free-floating in 500-million-year-old dolostone pockets in upstate New York. The natural facets are so bright they look cut. Everything else on the market wearing the name is geography fraud, however pretty.
What it is confused with
clear-quartz, tibetan-quartz, pakistani-quartz, glass, danburite
Short, stubby, double-terminated crystals with an eighteen-face habit, a pyramid at both ends and a very short prism between, so the crystal looks like a faceted bead rather than a wand. Faces are naturally brilliant and mirror-flat with no need for polishing, because the crystals grew loose in dolostone cavities rather than attached to a wall. Very clear, often with black anthraxolite (hydrocarbon) specks or moving fluid bubbles inside. True Herkimer County material is small, usually under 4 cm.
How to tell
Both terminations must be complete and undamaged, with no attachment scar anywhere on the crystal. Scratches glass. Note that only material from Herkimer County, New York is a Herkimer diamond; identical crystals from Pakistan, China and Mexico are double-terminated quartz sold under a borrowed name.
What it means for you
The Moon is at 1° Scorpio today. Herkimer Diamond is a quartz, 7 on the Mohs scale, and it is the stone traditionally carried when the problem is proximity rather than intensity.
You know what this one would do for you. You just don't have it.
Herkimer Diamond for every sign
Aries
They came out of the rock already polished.
Only stones from Herkimer County, New York, are Herkimer diamonds. Everything else wearing the name is double-terminated quartz from Pakistan or China. These grew loose in dolostone pockets, touching nothing, terminated at both ends. They came out of the rock already polished.
Taurus
Everything else with the name is geography fraud.
They grew loose in dolostone pockets 500 million years old, attached to nothing, and came out with mirror-flat faces that need no polishing. Only Herkimer County, New York, produces them. Everything else with the name is geography fraud, however pretty it is.
Gemini
Same crystal, worse passport, quarter of the price.
There is no diamond in it. Double-terminated quartz grew loose in dolostone pockets in one county in upstate New York, which is why the faces look cut and never were. The same crystal out of Pakistan is the same crystal with a worse passport.
Cancer
Nothing held it and it came out with eighteen faces.
Look for the attachment scar. There is not one, because these grew floating loose in dolostone cavities in Herkimer County, New York, and finished both ends themselves. Nothing held it and it came out with eighteen faces.
Leo
Eighteen mirror-flat faces, and nobody cut a single one.
Herkimer County, New York, and nowhere else. These are double-terminated quartz crystals that grew loose in 500-million-year-old dolostone pockets, so all eighteen faces came out mirror-flat with no cutting whatsoever. Anything wearing the name from Pakistan or China is geography fraud, however pretty.
Virgo
Two complete terminations and no attachment scar anywhere.
Only crystals from Herkimer County, New York, are entitled to the name. Identical double-terminated quartz from Pakistan and Mexico is sold under it constantly, which makes the label a geography claim rather than a mineral one. Check for two complete terminations and no attachment scar anywhere on the body.
Libra
Symmetry here is a consequence of having no attachments.
Double-terminated quartz that grew loose in dolostone pockets in Herkimer County, New York, touching nothing, which is why both ends are faceted and neither needed polish. Symmetry here is a consequence of having no attachments. Everything else wearing the name is geography fraud.
Scorpio
Everything else wearing the name is geography fraud.
Double-terminated quartz that grew loose in dolostone pockets 500 million years old, so the faces came out mirror-bright without a lapidary touching them. There is no attachment scar anywhere on a real one. Everything else wearing the name is geography fraud, however pretty.
Sagittarius
Pakistan and Mexico ship identical crystals wearing borrowed geography.
Double-terminated quartz that grew loose in 500-million-year-old dolostone pockets in upstate New York, so bright it looks cut. Only Herkimer County material is entitled to the name. Pakistan and Mexico ship identical crystals wearing borrowed geography.
Capricorn
Geography fraud with excellent manners.
Only Herkimer County, New York, produces a Herkimer diamond. These grew loose in half-billion-year-old dolostone pockets, doubly terminated, faces bright enough to look cut, no attachment scar anywhere on the body. The Pakistani ones are geography fraud with excellent manners.
Aquarius
It grew loose in a pocket rather than anchored to a wall.
Eighteen faces and a point at each end. It grew loose in a pocket rather than anchored to a wall, which is why the facets came out mirror-bright with no cutting. Only Herkimer County produces them, and everything else wearing the name is geography.
Pisces
It carries a bubble of 500-million-year-old water.
Many of them carry a bubble of 500-million-year-old water, sealed inside a dolostone pocket since the Cambrian. Which is why you never boil one or put it in an ultrasonic: thermal shock bursts the inclusion and it is gone. Double-terminated, eighteen faces, self-polished.
Correspondences
What tradition attaches to this stone. Folklore, not chemistry.
Element
air
Planet
Mercury
Chakra
third-eye, crown
Signs
sagittarius, aquarius, gemini
What tradition says
In crystal lore, double-terminated crystals are said to move energy in both directions and Herkimers specifically are associated with dreamwork and attunement between people.
Care
- Water is fine. Dry it afterwards.
- Tough and self-polishing. Do not tumble or ultrasonic-clean specimens with fluid inclusions; thermal shock can burst them.
Common questions
What does herkimer diamond mean?
Herkimer Diamond is carried for clarity, intuition and communication. Not diamonds, exceptionally clear double-terminated quartz that grew free-floating in 500-million-year-old dolostone pockets in upstate New York.. Tradition links it to the third-eye, crown chakra.
Is herkimer diamond real or fake?
Herkimer Diamond is not faked often, but it is still worth checking. Both terminations must be complete and undamaged, with no attachment scar anywhere on the crystal. Scratches glass.
Can herkimer diamond go in water?
A short rinse is fine for herkimer diamond, then dry it.
Uncommon · water-clear, smoky, amber-tinted, black-included
Where this leads
FOR ENTERTAINMENT AND REFLECTION. NOT MEDICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, FINANCIAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. How this works