Quartz var: Chalcedony var: Chrysoprase

Item Description

This is an attractive small cabinet specimen, and a wonderfully colorful and rather sculptural example of Chrysoprase from the Yerilla Chrysoprase Mine in Australia. Chrysoprase is typically defined as a variety of Chalcedony, which is a variety of Quartz to beging with, and according to mindat.org, the color is caused by, "tiny inclusions of Ni-bearing layer silicates (willemseite, népouite or others)". You can see the piece has a glowing green hue with a slight bluish overtone. The specimen shows fantastic internal gemminess when backlit and excellent consistency of color throughout with no cracks or crazing. Upon close inspection, there is almost a crystalline aspect to the surface, which is rare for this material in my experience, so it's not just a "lump". Specimens from the Yerilla Mine are rarely seen on the market today, and a piece with this kind of color and quality is quite desirable. Specimen weight is 106.1 grams. Valued $750.
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.