Epidote (''Faden Helix'') with Albite

Item Description

Epidote is a well-known species, first named in 1801, and found in multiple world localities in fine crystallized specimens. A good number of collectors and dealers would agree that the Alpine and "Alpine-type" examples are the best and most desirable specimens of the Epidote ever found. For a long time, world-famous Alpine localities like the Knappenwand in Austria produced world-class examples, but going in the 1990s, there were a good number of truly top quality Epidote specimens coming out of the "Alpine-type" deposits in the high Pakistani mountains around Shigar. These beautiful and excellent quality specimens rivaled the finest crystals from Europe, and what really set the Pakistani specimens apart was not just the size, luster and sharpness, but they were rather gemmy(!), which is not commonly seen from European examples. In recent years, we've noticed that it has become increasingly difficult to find top Epidotes from this locality, as my friends in Pakistan tell me that little is being found. This gorgeous display specimen is a unique, very attractive, unusually twisted "helix"-esque "Faden" group of rich golden green colored prismatic crystals of Epidote with contrasting chalky white blocky Albite at the base. The "Faden" form, a fairly well-known phenomenon for the species, but of them are fairly "flat" / two-dimensional, and to find a piece with such dramatic three-dimensional flair is certainly rare. "Faden" is the German word for "string" and you can clearly see how the piece grew along the thin fibrous "string" that runs all the way across the crystals. You just don't see pieces like this from Pakistan, and I will point out that that this specimen was collected nearly 30 years ago. 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. Valued $2,500.
From the "Alpine-type" collection of Richard A. Kosnar (1946-2007), the well-known mineral dealer and collector from Colorado, who was the namesake for the phosphate species Kosnarite. Rich was a serious collector of European Alpine and "Alpine-Type" minerals from around the world. He was especially fond of Epidote from the Austrian Alpine clefts and the nearly identical deposits in Pakistan.