"Often mistaken for Herkimer Diamonds"
Herkimers come from New York.
Payson Diamonds are hand mined here in Arizona at a place called Diamond Point near Payson, about fifty miles from Sedona as the raven flies.
A Gem of the Western continent. These quartz crystals were created in ancient limestone dating back over 400 million years. Payson Diamonds are closely related to Herkimer Diamonds, Chinese Diamonds, Mexican Diamonds and others. But for every 10,000 Herkimers, there is one Payson Diamond.
Crystals were first mined in 1927 by the Payday
amethyst claim. This double terminated quartz crystal has been collected by local families and residents since. In 1997 Prospect One claim was filed, and hand mining started. The crystal deposit overall was producing a few specimens a day, with the occasional 100 crystals or more a day.These crystals are some of them.
By 2000 my partners decided to bring in equipment and I left the claim. After campaigning to keep an area open to the public for digging, a 4,600 acre recreational crystal site was created and an area is now open free of charge. Click for directions.
Most surface crystals collected here are milky. Clear crystals, amethyst, enhydro quartz and rare beta quartz crystals are found at Diamond Point, but they are not as common and it requires some pretty hard digging. Only two true scepters have ever been found. The largest crystal I have seen measured 5.25 inches, most crystals are less than 2 inches.
METAPHYSICAL PROPERTIES
A true scepter is the combining of two crystals in time. The base or stem has an age of 100 million years and the top or crown 65 million years. Scepters occur in many
locales around the West, Crystal Park, Montana, Peterson Mtn., Nevada, Vera Cruz, Mexico and at least three areas in Arizona.
Enhydros and Phantoms do form with this type of sceptered crystal growth. Even with all these places to collect, crystals of good clarity and size are hard to find.
WARNING! Many hours can be spent gazing at Opals.
After 20 years of mining in the West, I now live back in my home state of Wisconsin. But where do I find crystals? I did not have to look far.
All Crystals are found within fifty miles of Sedona
Clockwise from top left: Star Selenite/Drusy Quartz/Lemuria Diamond/Sedona Red Rock/Pink Onyx
$19.oo (s&h included in U.S.)