Quartz var: Ametrine (natural bi-color)

Item Description

Ametrine is the varietal terms that has been designated for this rare and unique variety of naturally bi-colored (purple AMEthyst and yellow ciTRINE) Quartz. There is no questions that the top examples are found at the Anahi Mine in the eastern jungle of Bolivia. I've mentioned this before, but it should be noted that specimens labeled as coming from Brazil are false because the Bolivian material is sometimes sent to Brazil for processing / polishing, and then they slap a "Made in Brazil" sticker on them, but everything is found in Bolivia. Ametrine shows distinct separate individually colored sections, which are best seen when these crystals are sliced along the "c" axis, showing an alternating "radiation" pattern of purple and yellow triangles. This piece is an attractive, colorful, gemmy etched crystal of Ametrine showing mostly purple colors, but there are defined yellow zones toward the middle of the piece. It should be noted that the yellow portions of this piece are NATURAL (UNHEATED) Citrine, which is incredibly rare in nature, as most of the commercial material on the market is created by heating Amethyst to create the yellow color. Additionally, this crystal shows a very are "c" pinacoid face on the termination, which is incredibly hard to find in Quartz. The piece is in good shape for the most part, but there are some contacted areas, so it's not 100% prstine. A very cool crystal of this classic material. The piece weighs 157.2 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 stuided 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.