Epidote (gemmy ''Faden'')

Item Description

Epidote is a well-known mineral among collectors, and some of the finest crystallized examples are the superb piece from Alpine localities in Europe, specifically the Knappenwand in Austria. These famous and iconic pieces were found in the 1800s, and were the standard for the species for decades. The most classic style of crystallization for these pieces are the famous "Faden" groups (Faden = string in German), where a "thread"-like line can be seen growing through/across multiple crystals. In the early 1990s, we started to see many superb quality Epidote specimens coming out of the "Alpine-type" deposits in the high Pakistani mountains around Shigar. These amazing, beautiful and excellent quality specimens rivaled the finest crystals from the world-famous true Alpine localities. 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, and they even showed beautiful "Faden" growth as well! 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 is a lovely specimen featuring a superb, very sharp, rather lustrous, gemmy prismatic crystal, with a smaller accenting Epidotes on the sides, showing a distinct "Faden" line running from one side to the other. Despite the thickness, the piece does pass light, and it's quite gemmy internally, but you need a strong light to get the color to come through. Additionally, because Epidote is pleochroic, the crystals shows a deep golden-amber hue on direction, but when it's rotated 90 degrees, you can see distinctive green and yellow flashes as well. The piece is doubly-terminated, and nearly a "floater", as it's largely crystallized all over. 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 echelon in terms of quality for the species.
Ex Les Presmyk / De Natura specimen.