Epidote (thick ''Faden'' group)

Item Description

Epidote is one of the few minerals that is found in "Faden" formations. Now, "Faden" is the German word for "string" and you can clearly a dark "string" that runs across the crystals of this specimen when strongly backlit. Going back to the mid 1990s, we saw many good quality specimens of Epidote on the market from Pakistan. In more recent years, it has become increasingly rare to find excellent specimens such as this from Tormiq. The Pakistani Epidotes are seemingly identical to their classic European Alpine counterparts (particularly those from Austria), and an argument can be made that in certain instances, they the European specimens have been surpassed with regard to overall quality and gemminess. This gorgeous small cabinet / large miniature sized specimen is a very showy, doubly-terminated / multi-terminated, sharp, highly lustrous "Faden" crystal group featuring excellent, rich golden and extra virgin olive oil green colored "sword"-shaped crystals (depending upon the angle in which the specimen is viewed as the crystals are strongly pleochroic)_. The piece is in fairly good condition, but there is a separation mark on the front, and a contacted edge on the side, so it's not completely pristine. 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 echelons for the species in terms of quality, size and color.
This piece is from the collection of the well-known mineral dealer and collector Richard ("Rich") Kosnar (1946-2007), 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 notably similar specimens from the deposits in Pakistan.