Ruby (RARE locality specimen) (ex Chet Lemanski Collection)

Item Description

A beautiful vivid purplish-red Ruby specimen from Ol Doinyo Orok Mt. in southern Kenya (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ol_Doinyo_Orok). While Ruby specimens have been found in many localities in Kenya over the years (including from the famous John Saul Mine), this piece is the first I've ever seen reported as coming from this particular locale. The piece shows excellent hexagonal form, with a brownish exterior, but the interior is richly colored and just glows in any kind of lighting. A really attractive piece of Ruby from this obscure mountainous locality. From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #22807CL, and the collection catalogue states that the piece was part of the collection of H. Westenberger, Kelkheim, originally from the Stolte collection, Frankfurt. Chet was born 1947 in started collecting minerals circa 1957. He worked briefly as a drill runner at the famous Sterling Mine, in Ogdensburg, New Jersey and from 1987 to 1990 he helped convert the mine into a public access mining museum. He has held the role of treasurer, vice president and president of the Franklin-Ogdensburg Mineralogical Society (FOMS), and has been a board member and vice president of the Franklin Mineral Museum. The rare copper arsenate, Lemanskiite was named in his honor in 1999.