Topaz (doubly-terminated)

Item Description

A classic sherry colored Topaz crystal from the Nyet Bruk locality in the famed Shigar District of Pakistan. This sharp, lustrous, gemmy, stout crystal has smooth, well-formed faces on the prism, while the upper termination has dozens of little "teeth"-like stepped faces, and the base of the crystal is re-crystallized ("re-healed"), so it's actually doubly-terminated. The crystal is not pristine, unfortunately there are some nicks, but it's still a good overall example of this classic material with excellent color and good internal transparency/translucency. Please note: These crystals can lose their color when exposed to light, so please try to keep it in a closed box as much as possible in order to retain the color. 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.