Hessonite Garnet With Mg-Epidote - image 1

Hessonite Garnet With Mg-Epidote - image 2

Hessonite Garnet With Mg-Epidote

Unknown Owner

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When I first saw this labeled as spessartine garnet with vesuvianite, I thought something was odd from the habits and color of the combination. I took it to show a number of European collectors to confirm its oddity, since I had never had a similar specimen before, and the consensus was that this is a superb example, worth $2500-5000 range, of a rare variety of magnesium-rich epidote from a famous find in the 1970s. This is an important locality specimen, but its also a superb piece aesthetically for the contrast of crystal forms and colors. The largest mg-Epidote is 3 cm tall and the largest garnet is 2 cm tall, both finely crystallized. While there are some little spots of damage or contact, the major crystals are in good shape and the piece overall presents well enough that two very serious collectors owned it anyways, even without knowing (as I did not!) exactly how rare and desirable the piece was with the full identification now on it. From the Marty Zinn collection to Ed David through purchase, and then recently from the Ed David Collection to me in an exchange.