Forsterite var: Peridot

Item Description

A classic example of what have become some of the finest crystals of Peridot ever found. While Peridot has been known for many centuries, but no world locality has produced the quality and quantity of euhedral Peridot crystals like Sapat Gali. This specimen is a very attractive thumbnail featuring a well-formed, sharp, gemmy, lime green color crystal of Peridot with a nice accenting "sidecar" crystal, and no matrix. The termination is undamaged, but the back is contacted where it was separated from the pocket wall. 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.