Epidote (Fine Large Faden Group) (ex Rich Kosnar Collection)

Item Description

This piece is from the collection of the well-known mineral dealer Richard Kosnar (1946-2007) from Colorado, who was a serious collector of Alpine and "Alpine-Type" minerals from around the world. He was especially fond of Epidote from the European Alpine clefts and the nearly identical deposits in Pakistan. Starting in the 1990s, we saw many good quality specimens of this material on the market, but it has become increasingly rare to find excellent specimens such as this from Alchuri. The Pakistani specimens are seemingly identical to the classic Alpine specimens from Europe, but and argument can be made that in certain instances, they have surpassed their European counterparts with regard to their overall quality and gemminess. This beautiful cabinet sized display specimen is a very showy, multi-terminated (most crystals are actually doubly-terminated), razor sharp, highly lustrous "Faden" crystal group featuring many pronounced "sword"-shaped crystals in a fantastic stepped arrangement. The term "Faden" comes from the German word for "string" and with strong backlighting, you can see a thin "string" running inside the length of the specimen. Along with the superior size, form and quality, the piece shows a fantastic green hue when backlit! The color ranges from a deep grassy green to more of a an extra virgin olive oil hue. Epidote is a pleochroic species, which means that the color of the crystals will change when they are rotated on a different axis, and you can see a shift in the color on this piece when you rotate it in the light. The piece is in very good condition overall, though a few small imperfections can be seen, and the base of the piece is contacted where it was removed from the pocket wall. The specimen displays wonderfully from either side as well. Valued at $5,000 in the inventory.