Spodumene (''floater'' crystal)

Item Description

When it comes to gem quality Spodumene crystals, Afghanistan has been a major producer for a couple decades. This big hefty cabinet sized crystal is a wonderful, gemmy thick prism is multi-terminated on top and the bottom of the crystal has been re-crystallized ("re-healed") with no point of attachment, making it a complete doubly-terminated "floater". The crystal has good luster all around, and the graceful hydrothermal etching gives it an almost ethereal appearance, but there still clearly defined faces on several sides. I can't find any damage, and it's quite gemmy in areas. The color is a gentle yellow hue, with a very slight greenish overtone. Some of the finest examples of crystallized Spodumene (regardless of color) are those from the various pegmatite localities in Afghanistan, and this piece dates back circa late 1990s - early 2000s. Specimen weight is 566 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.