Do you remember the moment you fell in love, and it honestly changed your life? Ed Halleran of Herkimer, New York certain does. It was 1983, he was in his early 30s, and it was a photograph of something he could only describe as “incredibly beautiful.” The picture’s subject was a Herkimer diamond, and Halleran was not only hooked, but he was smitten.
“I’ve seen a lot of things in my 68 years, but I still have never seen anything quite like the first sign of a Herkimer diamond as it’s coming out of the ground,” Halleran said.
To say he’s seen a lot may even be a bit of an understatement. As a military veteran, former owner and operator of a restaurant specializing in pizza, over-theroad truck driver through which he earned membership in the national Milion-Mile Driver club, owner of thoroughbred horses, a husband, father, and rockhound, that’s a lot of roles in which to gain life experience.
Each step in the journey has had its purpose, even if he didn’t know it at the time, Halleran recalled. Now, after more than 30 years, he’s revisiting — in a big way — that early love, Herkimer diamonds.
For the past several decades, he’s had a staggering collection of Herkimer specimens of a variety of shapes and colors, sitting in the basement of his home. To quantify staggering” it’s estimated to be 1.5 million carats of double terminated quartz crystals. The crystals are named after a location where they are found, Herkimer County, New York and the surrounding area. However, New York is not the only place to find these quartz crystals. Examples have been discovered in Arizona, Norway, Afghanistan, and the Ukraine, among other locales.
This story is from the August 2020 edition of Rock&Gem Magazine.
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This story is from the August 2020 edition of Rock&Gem Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORGAN HILL POPPY JASPER
In California, there are very few places to collect semi-precious stones. Many locations from the past have been either exhausted of the material or the land has been developed.
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The briolette gemstone has the same design attributes of a regular gemstone, however, the pavilion is elongated and the crown is usually domed. This is perfect for an elegant pendant, earrings or a pendulum.
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To protect a specimen cab, often a cap is needed. In my case, I had a slab with the because of the color of the background and the pattern. This background had a more silicified consistency than most sandstones. It had no graininess like most sandstone, so I'm inclined to compare it to a jasper. The pattern was typical of a dendrite.
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