Item #10605

$225.00
Epidote
Tormiq, Haramosh Mountains, Skardu, NA, Pakistan

Epidote? Or clinozoisite? I have seen pieces from this locality labeled as either. I have seen pieces much green and much browner, and people have argued the color indicated the species. Personally, I believe you cannot tell without doing an analysis of each piece. If it comes back iron rich, it is epidote (presumably browner?) and if it has almost no iron and all aluminum atoms, it is clinozoisite. In either case, this is a wonderful specimen. In fact, I think these pieces have not yet gotten their due. There are many single crystals around, but nice parallel growth clusters like this one are difficult to get. This piece is double terminated. Outside of one nick in the center of the back, it is perfect. It displays <u>lovely</u> pleochroism, changing from brown to olive green as you rotate it on the c-axis. When backlit, the piece is stunning. 5 x 3 x 0.6 cm. I got this one many years ago when Tormiq was producing much more than it is now.