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Tim's Herks

Acquiring Pieces of Ancient NY History

Current Item Availability:

Herkimer Dirt (Available)

Traditional Herkimer Diamonds (Available)

Skeletal Herkimer Diamonds (Limited)

Black Herkimer Diamonds (Available)

Matrix/Embedded/Druze Pieces (Limited)

Herkimer Diamond Formation:

Herkimer diamonds formed over 350 million years ago during the Devonian Geologic Time Period when the North American continent was located near the equator. Plate tectonic and volcanic activity created seams in the dolomite rock where the rich mineral-laden material seeped into. Composed of the elements necessary to form these gem stones, the crystals began to form as the material cooled. Material rich in hydrocarbon formed a black crystal while material rich in silicon formed the traditional clear quartz crystals. Sometimes multiple injections of material resulted in the original crystals being coated, as in the formation of the black Herkimer diamonds where the black hydrocarbon was coated with clear quartz crystal - a very rare dual-natured process found only in a select few locations worldwide. Skeletal Herkimer diamonds give us an indication of the speed of the crystallization process and windows into the complex nature of some of these larger crystals. Laden with intricate features, these Herkimer crystals are quite rare and highly sought after by collectors. Sceptered Herkimer crystals (hydrocarbon stems capped with clear quartz crystal) are also extremely rare, delicate, and highly sought after by collectors.