Skardu District, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

Ex. Ron Romanella

Toenail, 3.3 x 1.8 x 1.6 cm

This is a beautiful toenail sized piece from the Skardu Area in Pakistan featuring a beautiful trapezohedral group of sharp, lustrous rich reddish-orange colored crystals of Spessartine measuring 1.7 cm at its longest dimension, aesthetically perched atop off-white colored Albite matrix. This piece originally came 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.

We acquired this specimen from Dr. Robert Lavinsky who is the owner of The Arkenstone. He has been collecting and dealing in fine mineral and gemstone specimens for over forty years, and was a pioneer during the 1990's for the online mineral industry. We are grateful for his in-depth knowledge and continued passion in the world of minerals and gemstones.