Baryte (classic gemmy crystal)

Item Description

I western Colorado (oustside of Grand Junction) lies the Book Cliffs area, which been a source of some outstanding quality crystals of colorless GEM Baryte. These specimens are truly some of the finest examples of the species from Colorado or almost any other U. S. localiy. The supreme gem clarity and combined with the colorless purity of the crystals makes them very eye-catching and desirable. The crystals are rarely seen on matrix, as they form inside Mancos Shale concretions, that are broken open to reveal the crystals inside, and since Baryte has perfect cleavage, they often "pop" off the matrix when the concretions broken apart. This beautiful small cabinet specimen features a VERY gemmy, razor-sharp, lustrous, colorless orthorhombic prism of Baryte, free of matrix. The upper portion of the crystal is nearly WATER-CLEAR. Most people don't realize that only a small percentage of the Barites from this locality reach this quality, and most of these concretions do not host fine quality crystals, and water-clear specimens are not common on the market these days. Good overall condition, but there is a contact on one edge of the prism on the upper third of the piece.
This piece comes to us from the legendary Ron Romanella (February 28, 1932 - October 24, 2022), a well-known gem and mineral dealer from New York City. He studied mineralogy at Columbia School of Mines, and he was mentored by Dr. Frederick Pough of the American Museum of Natural History, and learned about the business side from well-known mineral dealers Hugh Ford and Maurice Hammoneau. Ron himself was a mentor to other successful East Coast mineral dealers such as Larry Conklin, Herb Obodda and even employed Dave Wilber for a time. He largely transitioned out of selling minerals as his business focused more on gems for the last few decades, and his sons Michael and Jerry have been running the family business in Scottsdale for many years now. With that said, Ron was one of the great powerhouse mineral dealers in the US for many years, offering fine quality specimens and gem crystals from classic and contemporary localities. Among his top achievements, is that Ron is credited with importing the first known crystals of Tanzanite into the US in the 1960s.