Epidote (beautiful ''pinwheel-shaped'' group)

Item Description

Epidote can be found in different environments from many world localities. I would say the most well-known examples of the species are those from the renowned Knappenwand locality in the Austrian Alps. Most of the Epidote specimens you'll see from Pakistan are found in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, but there are some superb quality specimens that have come out of Balochistan recently, and this piece is a great example. At first glance, I was certain this piece had to be from somewhere other than Pakistan (possibly the Knappenwand), due to it's amazingly "wet" luster, smooth crystal faces and dark greenish-black color. It turns out that it's actually from Zard Mountain in Pakistan. This is not terribly surprising, as many of the "Alpine-Type" localities in Pakistan have produced similar minerals to their true European Alpine counterparts, but I'm always impressed when I see a piece as fine as this from an unlikely locality. As mentioned, this piece features fine quality, sharp, lustrous, dark greenish-black colored prismatic crystals which have formed a wonderful "pinwheel"-shaped group, with addtional accenting Epidotes to create a showy and eye-catching miniature sized piece. The piece is in great condition on the front side, with only a few small nicks here and there. A soft sage green mineral can be seen in the piece as well, possibly something like Augite or Clinochlore. You could fool a lot of people when you ask them, "where is this Epidote from?", because I think most people would either answer Austria, Alaska, Kenya or somewhere else before they thought it was from Pakistan.