The BULLETIN OF THE NEW YORK MINERALOGICAL CLUB, INC Volume 131 No. 5 May 2017 JOHN SANFACON WORLD OF MINERALS Gemstone Art on the Floor FLOOR GEMS See page 4! PINK vs. RED CORUNDUM 2017 NYMC MEMBERS BURROUGHS JEWELRY America’s Oldest Gem & Mineral Club Founded 1886 Incorporated 1937 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club Founded 1886 Ë New York City, New York Ë Incorporated 1937 Volume 131, No. 5 America’s Oldest Mineral & Gem Club May 2017 May 10th Meeting: John Sanfaçon: “Russian Summer NYC Gem & Mineral Mineralogy & More” Show to Debut in June 2018 By Mitch Portnoy than twenty years, it is unlikely very much will be changing in this new show. Tony Nikischer, NYC Gem & Although you may see some new dealers Mineral Show promoter and NYMC (since obviously no one can be member, informed me in late March that grandfathered in a new show), the overall he has signed a two-year contract with the ratio of mineral/gem/lapidary/jewelry Watson Hotel to sponsor a NEW mineral dealers will remain about the same. show in NYC – The Summer NYC Gem We will have a club booth at this & Mineral Show! show as always. We will Beginning on the provide a lecture on each weekend of June 23-24, day of the show. And we 2018, the show will will sell items and books become part of a triad and try to enroll new of NYC Mineral Shows members. – Spring, Summer and However, as this show Fall – each occurring takes place in the middle every four months of the year, we will likely during the calendar have to have a special years of 2018 and 2019. summer “half-year” or Starting with the first new mineral Tony had been (my preference) a 1½ year discovered in Russia (crocoite), mineralogy c o n s i d e r i n g membership rate since six in Russia developed rapidly, thanks to the establishing this show months will have already geologic survey of the Urals by Humboldt, for several years now gone by. at the request of Catherine the Great in the but many factors had to Over the next few 1790's. The great deposits of copper, be in place before months I will be working platinum, emeralds, alexandrite, topaz and taking the plunge: with Tony to put together a good semi-precious and decorative stones T The current NYC Spring and Fall marketing and advertising program (rhodonite, jasper, serpentine, etc.), in shows both needed to be healthy, Russia’s Urals led the world for the next regarding this new summer show. vigorous and growing in attendance; sixty years. If you have some ideas that might be T The Watson Hotel needed to have the With Dimitri Mendeleev’s periodic interesting to implement for this new ballroom available during a weekend table, Russia began to apply chemical summer NYC show, please let me know. towards the end of June BUT before principles, and by the end of the19th Remember, however, we are the hosts and NYC schools closed for the summer; not the owners of this show. century and first forty years of the 20th T century, Russia became the world leader in No other important mineral/gem event was taking place in the New York geochemical exploration (thanks to the Issue Highlights pioneering work of Vernadsky and Metropolitan area; T Fersman). In the 1920's, they began to Marketing research (conducted over President’s Message . 2 explore the Kola Peninsula in northwestern time) showed that there indeed was Meeting Minutes . 2 Russia for strategic metals. consumer demand for the show AND World of Minerals: Panguite. 4 Exploratory work in the remote reaches it would not lead to over saturation; “Fire of Australia” Opal . 4 T of Siberia led to the discovery in 1963 of Several of the “flagship” dealers, who Meteorite Update. 5 the Mir diamond pipe, with its jumbo come to both the Spring and Fall BMC Auction Experience . 5 water-clear gem crystals. In September Shows, have agreed to come to this 2 Auctions with Variations . 6 2012 Russia announced that the Popigai new Summer Show AND they are Rare Book Heist . 7 Astroblem (the world’s seventh largest eager to do so; and 2017 NYMC Members . 8 meteor impact crater) can supply the world T Tony’s support staff and the NYMC Topics in Gemology: Corundum. 9 with industrial diamonds for the next 3000 were available and willing to help Augusten Burroughs’s Jewelry . 10 years! with this new show. Earth’s New Supercontinent . 11 (Continued on page 11) Given the successful commercial March ‘17 Show Dealer Donations . 12 formula that has been applied for more Club & Show Calendars . 13 2 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club, Inc. May 2017 President’s Message quickly gone over; members were Welcome New Members! By Mitch Portnoy reminded that the first version of the Katie Bosch. Brooklyn, NY I am in the process of updating and June benefit auction catalog was Erik Boulware. Brooklyn, NY enhancing a portfolio about all the available online (illustrated below); the The Gray Family. Brooklyn, NY presidents of the NYMC I found in the September meeting lecture will be Diane Cramer . New York, NY Club’s archives. It is almost done and about New York State mineralogy by The Poe Family. Brooklyn, NY ultimately will be uploaded for all to see on Mike Hawkins. Kimberly Vagner . Brooklyn, NY the History Page of the website. But there is May Meeting Game! missing information and I am looking for help. I need face pictures for: 1. Harry Reilly Lee 2. John Newlin Trainer, Jr. 3. James A Taylor 4. Ralph J. Holmes 5. Victor Pribil 6. Frank Chambers (a good one) 7. Charles Sheer 8. Gary J. Burke And I need birth/death years for: The new Summer NYC Gem & And Coming in June . 9. Harry Reilly Lee Mineral Show will debut in June 2018. 10. James A. Taylor Special Lecture: Charles Snider: 11. Joe Rothstein “The American Geode Story” 12. Frank Chambers Charles Snider, club member, 13. Charles Sheer (birth year only) rockhound and true renaissance man gave I also need middle initials/or middle an extremely engaging and visually names for several past presidents but this is interesting talk about how his company, less important for now. American Geode, came to be. Club Meeting Minutes for About 10 years ago, a business colleague surprised him by commenting on April 19, 2017 the large quartz specimen displayed on his By Mitch Portnoy, Acting Secretary desk. This colleague, Joe Krabak, quickly Attendance: 43 became one of Charles’ best friends and President Mitch Portnoy presided collecting buddies. (Joe is also now the Announcements: Club’s expert webmaster but that’s another The monthly raffle was held. story!) Mitch told the members that he ha Charles showed several videos about receive a call from Larry Cohen’s (our their collecting together up in Herkimer, long lost treasurer) son and that he had NY and passed around the audience two of passed away in 2012. the best “diamonds” they ever discovered. Members were told that 5-6 flats of The core of his talk focused, however, nice minerals remained from the on how he, while visiting with friends in Special Sale and could be bought. Indiana for personal reasons, discovered A website update was given; the new that his friend’s acreage was covered with illustrated file about minerals named geodes of all sizes. After discussion and after NYMC members was featured. rd planning with his friend (and now 3 The day’s historical events and special partner) American Geode was born. holidays were presented. He quickly talked about how they were The evening’s game, about minerals created, the geologic time from which they with a blue streak, was played. come and the variety of minerals that they Mitch presented two songs this have found. The audience was especially evening, the first about fakes (sung to interested in the “antique” pipe cracking the tune of Kids! from Bye Bye Birdie tool they use to open up the geodes. and the second about mineral cabinets sung to the tune of Caberet! Members in the News George Harlow was a speaker at the A video about creating bismuth th crystals (often sold as natural!) was 14 Annual Sinkankas Conference shown. where he spoke about syenite-hosted The usual items for sale at meetings sapphires. were listed; a special set of geode note Alfredo Petrov lectured to the cards was available. Mineralogical Society of Hong Kong in The upcoming NYMC events were April about collecting minerals on Japan’s volcanoes. May 2017 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club, Inc. 3 The World of Minerals The World of Minerals is a monthly column written by Dr. Vivien Gornitz on timely and interesting topics related to geology, gemology, mineralogy, mineral history, etc. Rare Meteorite Mineral Helps Solve a Crime Panguite, Ti,Sc,Al,Mg,Zr,Ca1.8O3, is a new ultra-refractory In the thriller “Chaos”, by best-selling author, Patricia titanium mineral originally discovered in the Allende meteorite. Cornwell, Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Chief Forensic Pathologist at the Chi Ma, its discoverer, was particularly impressed by the fact Cambridge Forensic Center, is presented with a baffling case that not only is panguite a rare, new mineral, but of “a material that defies easy explanation. A young woman cycling through a previously unknown to science”. It is also one of the first solid Cambridge, Massachusetts park on late summer evening is found materials to have crystallized in the Solar System, some 4.57 dead under mysterious circumstances.