Quartz with Epidote Inclusions - Crystal on Forest-Green Epidote Matrix

A single lustrous Quartz crystal perched on a crust of dark green Epidote, from Turkey. Turkish occurrences have produced some of the more appealing Epidote-Quartz associations of recent years, and the appeal here lies in the contrast: colourless, glassy Quartz set directly against a bed of near-black green Epidote, with slender Epidote needles captured inside the Quartz itself. The Quartz is a squat, strongly developed individual with a broad prism and a dominant rhombohedral termination that reads almost as a flattened pyramid from the front. Its faces are large and uninterrupted, which is what gives the crystal its presence; there is no clutter of secondary growth to break up the form. The Epidote beneath occurs as a dense aggregate of bladed crystals, sharply terminated in places and visible as glittering wedge-shaped faces across the base, forming a low plinth that the Quartz rises from at an angle. In reflected light the Quartz reads as clear to very faintly milky, with a cool bluish cast where the internal surfaces scatter light. Transmitted light tells a different story: the body opens up to near-water-clarity, and the included Epidote prisms stand out as sharp olive to moss-green splinters suspended mid-crystal, some isolated, others grouped in loose sprays. The matrix Epidote is a deep bottle green that tips into black where the crystals are thickest, brightening to pistachio and yellow-green along thin edges and across the finer crystals near the contact. Lustre is the strength of the piece. The Quartz faces are brightly vitreous and nearly specular, throwing clean highlights as the specimen is rotated, while the Epidote offers a harder, more metallic-looking glint from its blade faces. The two surfaces behave quite differently under the same light, and that difference is a large part of the visual interest. The arrangement is simple and effective. One dominant crystal, one supporting matrix, no competition for attention. Close inspection rewards the viewer with the suspended Epidote needles, the faint growth striations crossing the prism, and small colourless Quartz points scattered through the Epidote bed. Quartz terminations are easily chipped along their edges and apex, and included crystals of this kind are often found frosted or bruised; here the termination edges and the principal faces present cleanly in the photographs, which matters for a piece whose entire effect depends on transparency and reflectivity. No measurements were recorded, but the hand images place it comfortably in the small miniature range. It carries itself well for its size, with a single bold crystal doing the work of a much larger specimen. Turned under a directional lamp, the Quartz lights from within and the green inclusions float in clear space above a dark green base.