Home >  Lifestyle

Sunday, November 17, 2002

By Mark Roth, Post-Gazette Assistant Managing Editor

Nothing may show the lure of rocks better than the story of the butcher who became one of the world's top mineral dealers.

Julius Zweibel was a 42-year-old meat cutter from Long Island the first time he and his wife saw a crystal specimen -- an amethyst sitting in a neighbor's living room. That led them to buy a book on minerals, and then to buy a few samples on a vacation trip to Phoenix, and then, as they became more and more interested, to start taking overseas trips for the express purpose of purchasing minerals.

The venture that showed just how hooked Julius Zweibel had become occurred 30 years ago, when he finally reached the Mecca of minerals, the Tsumeb mines in the African nation of Namibia. Because of unusual geologic conditions, the deep reaches of former lead and silver mines there contained some of the most brilliant, varied crystal formations in the world.

Zweibel was visiting Tsumeb with a mineral-collecting friend. They walked into a dealer's shop and saw a set of minerals that awed his acquaintance -- but which the owner said he had promised to sell to a German man.

As they walked away, his dejected companion said he never seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Suddenly, Zweibel said, "Let's go back."

When they got there, he told the proprietor, "I'm looking for something for my wife for our anniversary. If you'll sell that collection to me, I'll give you $1,000 more than what the German guy is offering you."

The owner pondered, and then agreed. Zweibel asked what it would cost him. "$28,000," the owner replied. Zweibel had $500 in his wallet. He gave the man $300 as a deposit, kept the rest for his plane ticket back, and called his wife.

"Miriam," he said, "I just bought these minerals. I need you to go out and take a mortgage on that property we own."

That's how he got his first batch of valuable minerals. Then came the purchase of another high-end collection from Mexico.

Then, when the 1973 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show came along, Zweibel tried his hand at selling some of his specimens, and he did an extremely brisk business. Only later did he find out that he had underpriced them.

"But that didn't matter to me. We went back home, and I told my wife, 'We're going to make a business out of this.' So I eased myself out of the meat business."

As the years progressed, the Zweibels became famous for the high quality of their specimens and their willingness to travel almost anywhere in the world to get them.

In 1980, Julius sold his personal collection to a wealthy Texas oil man, Perkins Sams. Then, eight years ago, he and Miriam got out of the mineral business. They are retired now in Boca Raton, Fla.

For several years, they have lived off the proceeds from selling their mineral collection. And even though Julius was happy with the price he negotiated, the deal was consummated right before mineral collecting exploded in popularity.

"Things we sold for $5,000 have since sold for $90,000. We were in the high end of the business, but we never dreamt it would take off like that." If he owned his old collection today, he estimates that it would be worth between $3 million and $5 million.

Yet he has no regrets. He and Miriam now collect studio glass.

They have to collect something.

"We tell people if you don't collect, you're not living. It's something that gets into your blood and keeps you going. We used to sit up till 2 or 3 in the morning looking at our minerals, and we'd tell each other stories about them, because each mineral had a story."

Sort of like family members telling tales of relatives at a family reunion? "Believe me," he said, "those minerals had better stories than my relatives."