Candid

A quartz that grew its own faces — no cutter, no polish, nothing added.

Herkimer Diamond · The Law of Potential

Family: Quartz — SiO₂ (not a diamond at all)
Hardness: 7.5 — harder than ordinary quartz
Colour: Glass clear, often with a water or hydrocarbon bubble inside
Signature: Doubly terminated — a natural point at both ends, grown loose in the rock

The stone read as the word

Herkimer crystals form free inside pockets of dolostone, so they finish themselves: eighteen faces, two points, no attachment scar. They come out of the ground already looking cut. Candour is the same trick — nothing was added to make it presentable.

The word candid comes from candidus, shining white. Its oldest meaning is not blunt; it is bright and unstained. Herkimers are the stone of that meaning.

What it is carried for

Carried for saying the true thing kindly and without varnish.
Held when honesty is the shortest route.