Columbite

Item Description

A good sized, well-terminated crystal of "Columbite" (more specifically the Columbite-(Fe)-Columbite-(Mn) Series from Brazil. The piece has excellent orthorhombic faces on a few sides, but it is contacted on the back and the base where it was separated from the pocket wall. The color is a muted black hue, with moderate luster. The label accompanying the piece dates this crystal back to the 1960s, and says it's iron-bearing, but we haven't had it analyzed to know for certain. It's larger than most you'll see from Brazil, as it's well over 2 inches. Specimen weight is 179.6 grams (slight less than the label states at 180.9 grams). 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.