Description

Epidote is a sorosilicate described by mineralogist René Just Haüy in 1801. Its name means “which has received an increase”, which is perfectly understandable when you look at the specimen here. Epidote is formed in metamorphic, hydrothermal or metasomatic contact rocks and by alteration of plagioclase.

Known in France in beautiful crystal plaques at Cornillon, in Oisans (Isère), in the Raon-l’Étape quarry in the Vosges, at Cevins and at Lauzière in Savoie, among others.

This spectacular and elegant sample comes from the world’s best deposit, Knappenwand, Untersulzbach Valley, Hohe Tauern, Salzburg, Austria. Two groups of crystals, growing in parallel, very elongated and shiny, of a beautiful dark bottle-green color and brown in transparency, form a V or fin, allowing the sample to be arranged at different angles. The brilliance is remarkable.

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