Corundum var: Sapphire (doubly-terminated twin crystal)

Item Description

It's not common to find well-formed, sharp, doubly-terminated Sapphire crystals, and to find a twinned crystal like this is a exceedingly rare. This specimen has a gentle lilac-blue hue with good internal translucency, and sharp (not water-worn or rounded) faces with moderate luster. It's actually twinned in more than one place, but you have to view it from the reverse side to get the full effect. A piece like this is certainly hard to find, especially in such good quality, without damage. I value this one highly for what it is, and if you collect gem crystals, twinned crystals or if you just like Sapphires, don't let this one get away. Specimen weight is 7.1 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.