Epidote (''Faden'')

Item Description

A fine "Faden" Epidote specimen from this "Alpine-type" deposit in the high Pakistani mountains around Shigar. These beautiful and excellent quality specimens rival the top crystals from the world-famous Alpine localities in Austria (Knappenwand), where the finest examples of the species have been found. What really set the Pakistani specimens apart was not just the size, luster and sharpness, but they were rather gemmy(!) even in thicker crystals, which is not commonly seen from European examples, as the Austrian pieces can often be black. This gorgeous display specimen hosts superb, sharp, lustrous, gemmy prismatic crystals (many of which are doubly-terminated) with a lovely greenish-golden hue. The piece is a "Faden" group, which is a fairly well-known phenomenon seen in species. "Faden" is the German word for "string" and you can clearly see how the piece grew along the fibrous "string" that runs across the crystals which have formed in parallel growth. Please note that the top of the specimen is contacted, so the piece is not 100% pristine. You just don't see pieces like this on the market now, and if you consider that most Epidote crystals around the world are "black" and opaque, this piece is in the higher echelon in terms of quality for the species.
From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #19045CL, and the catalogue entry for the piece states that it was exported from China and imported into the United States by The Rocksmiths, and was purchased by Chet on February 8, 2001 (TGMS Show). Chet was born 1947 in started collecting minerals circa 1957. He worked briefly as a drill runner at the famous Sterling Mine, in Ogdensburg, New Jersey and from 1987 to 1990 he helped convert the mine into a public access mining museum. He has held the role of treasurer, vice president and president of the Franklin-Ogdensburg Mineralogical Society (FOMS), and has been a board member and vice president of the Franklin Mineral Museum. The rare copper arsenate, Lemanskiite was named in his honor in 1999.