Epidote (''Faden'') (rare locality)

Item Description

This piece is notably hard to find "Faden" group of Epidote crystals from the lesser-known Nauchas Farm 14 locality near Gamsberg in Namibia. It is comprised of many rather sharp and lustrous, richly colored crystals which are intergrown along a common "thread"-line ("Faden" is the German word for string or thread), running along the base of the piece from one end to the other, with no matrix. The crystals seem to be opaque, even with strong backlighting, a small amount of color can be seen, including some RICH chrome green hues. The majority of the crystals are in good shape, but the piece is not pristine, as there are some contacts in a few spots. The piece honestly reminds me of the old Austrian classics from the Knappenwand (which makes sense as I'm told the Gamberg Area producing "Alpine-type" cleft minerals just like those from the Austrian Alps), but this piece still has a distinctness all its own.
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. Ron 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.