Epidote (''Faden'')

Item Description

A beautiful Pakistani "Faden" Epidote specimen from the "Alpine-type" locality at Tormiq. Epidote is one of the few minerals that is found in "Faden" formations. "Faden" is the German word for "string" and you can clearly a dark "string" that runs across the crystals of this specimen when strongly backlit. Going back to the mid 1990s, we saw many good quality specimens of Epidote on the market from Pakistan. In more recent years, it has become increasingly rare to find excellent specimens such as this from Tormiq. The Pakistani Epidotes are seemingly identical to their classic European Alpine counterparts (particularly those from Austria), and an argument can be made that in certain instances, they the European specimens have been surpassed with regard to overall quality and gemminess. This is a very showy multi-terminated, sharp, lustrous "Faden" crystal group featuring gemmy, rich golden-green colored "sword"-shaped crystals in parallel growth. The piece is in fairly good condition, but the ends are contacted, so it's not completely 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 echelons for the species in terms of quality, size and color.
From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #18867CL. Chet's collection catalogue states that he acquired this piece in January of 1987 from Jim's Gems, Wayne, NJ. 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.