Azurite

Item Description

Ron Romanella, the famous gem world dealer, loved minerals and had a small private collection that passed to us recently. Included, was a suite of different crystal habits of azurite from the famous Tsumeb mine, obtained in Namibia in the 1970s-1980s. This was one of his favorites, a large and dramatic display-sized specimen with a modern sculpture-like style. It is somewhat uneven along the top and bottom terminations as you can see, almost like a fence with tips as the crystals grow to the sides in either direction and form a chain of linked crystals that is really dramatic in person - especially in the size. It is largely complete, with the whole top and bottom periphery composed of interlinked terminations. In person, the more you look, the more small terminations you see at each end, and it is almost complete, with just a few small dings. It is a thin plate, and stands easily, but has large visual impact. I cannot say as we have seen many like this! Old material, obtained by Ron in one of his trips to Namibia long ago. Valued at the time over $10,000, because at that time, huge azurite was still rare. Milpillas azurite changed that math, and drowned the market in azurite, to be sure - but nothing from Milpillas looked like this. This is truly a different style, unique to Tsumeb, and therefore should retain some good value.