Quartz var: Smoky

Item Description

Swiss Quartz ranks among the highest echelons in the world in the terms of quality, transparency, and sheer visual beauty. This piece is a classic example of the beautiful Smoky Quartz crystals from Canton Uri (likely from the Göscheneralp, but the label only says "Uri", and it's hard to know specifically where these crystals are found sometimes). The piece is a very sharp, rather lustrous, virtually WATER-CLEAR, light smoky colored prismatic crystal with a few smaller crystals growing at the base. There are a few small nicks, so the piece is not 100% damage-free, but it's still in very good condition, and I can't stress the superb optic quality. A fine example of these great classics from the Swiss Alps. Specimen weight is 204 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 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.