Beryl var: Aquamarine and Emerald (5 crystal set)

Item Description

A beautiful 5-crystal set of richly colored Beryls (Aquamarine and Emerald from the famed Jos Plateau in Nigeria. There are three slender prismatic crystals of rich blue Aquamarine with good internal gemminess, along with a pair of stout, vibrant green colored Emeralds. All of the crystals are in good condition, and they all feature distinct pyramidal terminations, which is not commonly seen in Beryl (especially Emerald), but is well-known from Jos. For reference, the largest Aquamarine crystal measures 3.5 x 0.4 x 0.4 cm, and the smaller of the two Emeralds measures 1.9 x 0.7 x 0.6 cm. I value this set around $2,500 retail for all 5 crystals. These crystals come 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.