Epidote (''Faden'') (ex Rich Kosnar Collection)

Item Description

Epidote is a signature species of European Alpine cleft deposits. Over the last 25+ years, some of the finest Epidote specimens in the world have been coming out of Pakistan, and they are seemingly identical to the classic Alpine specimens from Europe, and in certain instances, have surpassed the European specimens for quality and gemminess. In recent years, we've seen a dramatic drop in the amount of fine quality Epidote "Fadens" like this coming out of Pakistan. This piece was mined in the late 1990s and is a superb, sharp, lustrous, rich golden color, gemmy, prismatic, "Faden" group of Epidote crystals free of matrix. When backlit, you can clearly see the thin "string" ("Faden" means string in German), running all the way from one side of the piece to the other. When the piece is rotated in the light, you can see a bit of pleochroism where it changes from a golden hue to more of a greenish tone. There are some contacted areas on the piece, so it's not 100% pristine, but it still displays well, and would fit nicely into any collection. This material is highly prized by collectors for its exceptional form, as it resembles the classic Alpine Epidote specimens that sell for top dollar around the world. These pieces are highly coveted by Alpine collectors, and good pieces are next to impossible to obtain from the classic European localities. From the collection of Richard A. Kosnar (1946-2007), well-known dealer and mineral collector from Colorado, and the namesake for the species Kosnarite.