How Large is the Largest Herkimer Diamond?

I was just out last weekend and found a 52mm 99% clear diamond and was trying to find a comparable on the net. I was seeing a few in that size that I would say are in the 75% clarity range, and one of the best Herk references at [www.herkimerhistory.com] says the largest diamonds top out at 4 cm. Mike comes close here: [www.innervisioncrystals.net]

It's a neat crystal that I believe even exhibits negative crystal growth, as well as locking into a 9 diamond cluster with a huge 5 inch smoky! I should be able to post some pictures soon. But I am really curious about how big do the diamonds get (not the goonies or fractured ones).

Thanks!

Hi David,

The largest perfect Herkimer Diamond I have seen came from the "Ace of Diamonds" area in the late 1950's. It was collected
by Therm Baskin from New Jersey at that time. The crystal was completely flawless,doubly terminated,no inclusions.no carbon inside or out,no tiny or other attached crystals. It was the only crystal in a pocket the size of a 10 qt bucket. The crystal was nicely proportioned and about 4 inches in length. He was offered $10,000 dollars by the owner of the mine the day he found it. Smithsonian Museum also wished to acquire it at the time. Last time I saw the crystal it was still in his glass showcase at his house in the early 1960's. He always told me he had no intentions of ever selling it. Anyone know where it is today?

Cliff

Cliff,

WOW, a 4" diamond! Yeah, you and I both would love to see that thing again!!

While your details are great, I am wondering if it wasn't the case of a school-aged Cliff holding his first 1.5 inch diamond and now recalling the proportions in his hand!!

Seriously though, what a killer find. I thought the Herk History site was way low on their 4 cm claim.

Hi David,

Quite sure of the 4 inch size as my parents and I used to meet up with Therm Baskin at Herkimer every Summer to dig for
Herkimers.We would camp and dig 4-5 days at a time. We came down from Maine and if time permitted we continued on to collect at Franklin,NJ. We would stop to see Therm on the way, so had a chance to see his "Herkimer" several times. He
and his son sometimes came to Maine to collect minerals a few days with us, most Summers.We lost contact when I went off to college in New Mexico and then later into the service.Still remember one very productive visit to Herkimer. We worked 4 days in nonstop shifts,found 11 large pockets that contained from 1/2 to a full 5 gallon bucket of crystal packed mud,as well as several large mounds of drusy Herkimers from the centers. The good old days and nights at Herkimer, working with
coleman lanterns all night. Some mineral collectors called it fun but the crystals sure sparkle at night.

Cliff

Clifford,
That was very interesting. I have put your comment in the Best Minerals, Quartz, USA article that contains the Herkimer diamond entries.

Rock Currier
Crystals not pistols.

Actually, if you delte the word "perfect" from the qualifications and go with "largest" you are talking about a whole new subject. There was one locality where there were gigantic herks in the soil. As I underastand it, they were collected freely until exhausted. The one which I was lucky enough to come by at the Rochester Mineralogical Society symposium silent auction is more than a hand full! Perhaps someone from the New York upstate collectors' community can chime in on just how big they got, but it is far larger than 4 inches.

Chet

Back in the late 1970's collecting at the Ace of Diamonds property in Fonda, NY, I found a large pipe of black anthraxolite which opened to a large bucket sized chamber filled with very large Herkimer Diamonds. They ranged from 3 to 6 3/4 inches long!!
The big problem was that being two and a half feet from the existing surface there was a lot of internal fracturing that occurred due to the severe winter freezing in that part of NY. So yes they can get considerably bigger than 4 inches BUT only rarely are they fracture free.

Steve.

p.s. the crystals were removed by hand and I paid the price with many band-aide covered lacerations from my best pocket ever.

In the early 60's we also dug for "Fonda Diamonds" a few times. Most were recovered less than 5 ft from the surface. The crystals were mostly heavily fractured and cloudy. Many were football size with excellent surface luster but nearly opaque. We
found one large pocket with a few smaller crystals that were fractured but quite gemmy. I did find one fist sized light smokey colored gem crystal that that had very few flaws inside but was attached to a larger crystal that was nearly opaque. Crystals to 1 foot were found at times but seldom complete. We soon went back to digging in the Herkimer area.

Cliff

The recent dig was at Diamond Acres in Fonda, and I guess you could call this proof that there are more than smoky footballs on that hill. The latter pictures I tried to capture what I am thinking is the "negative crystal growth". These are not crystal attachment points as they occur at a juncture of two equal sized crystals and the negative crystals have far more than 6 faces. In fact, they are pinicoidial and very much resemble the pavilion cut on faceted gems. I think I'll start another thread on that topic though.

I guess I'd still like to focus on nearly perfect diamonds and what are the largest sizes.

Calcite contacts ?

Looks like a quartz contact to me, expecialy with the sharp straight perimiter edge.

Cheers.
Ian

Hi Ian,

You're not the Ian I was just digging with in NV, are you? (CO Ian) I do not believe it is a contact that is making the cone shapes. I started a separate thread concerning the strange growth titled "Negative Crystal Growth" which has a lot of detail and theories being tossed about how it was formed. I would like to keep this thread on the topic of what are the largest Herkimer Diamonds out there, and so far Cliff is the winner at an astounding 4 inches.

Cheers,

Dave (and Jane)

Hey Dave,

Yup this is the Ian. Nice to hear from you again and it was a pleasure to meet you. I was actually thinking about your Fonda tales while I was reading this thread. Interesting feature indeed.

Cheers.
Ian

Back in the late 1960's, a friend of mine gave me a large herkimer. It is 14.4 x 10.5 x 8.6 cm.



It needs a good cleaning and it is not very clear. But it is huge (just under 6 inchs).

Ian,

You would've gotten more style points with saying " Yup, this is THE Ian!" or maybe even saying "I am...THAT Ian!".

Ron,

That's a pretty classic "goonie" (local terminology) crystal and it is probably from Fonda. In Fonda, I'd say only about 20% come out as intact as yours appear. Goonies get bonus points for having little contact with the walls and for being ellestial and smoky, but most of the goonies can be really milky and ugly. Thanks for posting your picture!

Have Fun,

Dave



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/15/2012 01:08AM by David Zimmerman (2).

Would you include "Herkimer" diamonds from localities other than Herkimer? Similar quartz crystals are known from other locations. Here are two Irish examples I found myself: [www.mindat.org] They even have tiny fluid inclusions with moving bubbles. A bigger one (10 cm long and pictured in UK Journal of Mines & Minerals, No. 30, p.40) was also found at the same locality by a friend of mine, but sadly later lost in a garage fire. The quarry that produced them is no longer working in the mineralised area, and even when it was Herkies were rare.

Verry nice Stephen !

Hi,

I was just told by Alan Benson of Alan's Minerals in New Jersey that the crystal is still in the possession of the Baskin family.

Best,

Joe Polityka

Hi Joe,

Word should get passed around that there should be a photographic record of the beast and that it be put in the best minerals section of this website. I'd LOVE to see a photo of it!

Dave

I have 2 little Herkimer diamonds from North Wales which I found.

Donkey years ago, the miners found a seam of them and sold them as 'North Wales Diamonds' to locals and passer-bys. Mine are only between 0.75 - 1 inch inlength though. I didnt know what they were until Diggums told me they were probably Herks. Am chuffed I found them though in a small dark forested corner of North Wales, UK

Claire