Epidote

Hashupa, Shigar Valley, Baltistan, Nortern Areas, Pakistan
Toenail, 3.1 x 2.0 x 0.7 cm
Start Time: 01/07/2010 6:45:00 pm (CST)
End Time: 01/14/2010 6:45:00 pm (CST)
Auction Closed

Item Description

Over the last few years, I have seen less and less fine quality Epidotes from this locality. This species is one of the most well known of all the Alpine cleft minerals in the world, and Pakistan has been producing some of the finest Epidote specimens in the world over the last 15 years. These specimens are seemingly identical to the classic Alpine specimens from Europe, and in certain instances, have surpassed the European specimens for quality and gemminess. This piece is a sharp, lustrous, gem/gemmy, golden-green color "Faden" (German word for string) crystal group with distinct pleochroism as you can see in the photos (green when viewing the "a" face and golden-brown when viewing from the "b" face). It's a very good quality specimen and would fit nicely into any collection. This material is highly prized by collectors for its exceptional form, as it resembles the classic Alpine Epidote specimens from Austria that sell for top dollar around the world. These Austrian pieces are highly coveted by Alpine collectors, and good pieces are next to impossible to obtain nowadays.

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