Epidote (GEMMY crystals)

Item Description

A fine quality Epidote specimen from this famous "Alpine-type" deposit in the high Pakistani mountains around Shigar. These amazing, beautiful and excellent quality specimens started showing up on the market in the 1990s and rivaled the finest 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. 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 beautiful display specimen hosts superb, sharp, lustrous, GEMMY, prismatic crystals with a lovely greenish-golden hue, which shift to a slightly more greenish color due to the pleochroism of Epidote. The largest crystal measures 1.8 cm. You just don't see many 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 "Alpine-type" collection of Richard ("Rich") Andrew Kosnar (1946-2007), the well-known mineral dealer and collector from Colorado, who was the namesake for the phosphate species Kosnarite. Rich loved European Alpine minerals, and once the specimens from Pakistan hit the market, he started building a suite of them as they were just as good if not better than their European counterparts.