Hyalite Opal (RARE old Brazil gem material) Ron Romanella Coll.

Item Description

Opal of any variety is RARE from Minas Gerais. MINDAT does not list Governador Valadares as one of the localities. Hyalite opal or Opal-AN is a term for amorphous opal with a glass-like structure (Graetsch, 1994). The four striking thumbnail nodules look like intergrown glass beads with a pretty light green hue. The embedded matrix on the large piece adds interest. Interestingly, no fluorescence on these. This rare, perhaps UNIQUE old quartet comes from the collection of Ron Romanella. Ron was a prominent New York mineral and gem dealer from the 1950s into the late 1960s. He was the mentor and employer of both Larry Conklin and Herb Obodda, who became prominent dealers in their own right. This is from an old stash of his lapidary and reference material we picked up.