Quartz (etched GEM crystal) with Epidote on Calcite

Item Description

A bizarre and captivating specimen featuring an eye-catching, colorless, GEM quality, highly etched crystal of Quartz measuring 1.6 cm, associated with a few transparent, greenish-golden colored Epidote crystals measuring up to 5 mm sitting on bladed Calcite ("Blatterspat") matrix. The form of the Quartz is almost ethereal, and while I've seen other etched Quartz crystals from this area, I've never seen one with Epidote on Calcite. It's a most unusual and certainly unique piece from this famed "Alpine-type" deposit.
The piece was mined in the mid 1990's and is from the collection of the well-known mineral dealer and collector Richard Kosnar (1946-2007) from Colorado, who was the namesake for the rare zirconium phosphate species, Kosnarite. Rich was a serious fan of Alpine and "Alpine-Type" minerals from around the world. He was especially fond of minerals from the European Alpine clefts and the nearly homogenous deposits in Pakistan.