Grossular Garnet (classic material)

Item Description

The old classic Grossular Garnets from the Belvidere Mountain Quarries (colloquially referred to as "Eden Mills") in Vermont are some of the most beautiful and recognizable Garnets from any New England locality. This piece features a group of sharp, lustrous, gemmy, rich orange-red colored trapezohedral crystals measuring up to 7 mm, covering the underlying matrix. There are several pale beige colored thin prismatic crystals of an unknown species, presumably it's some kind of Pyroxene like Diopside (as I have seen crystals of this color before - see https://www.mindat.org/photo-267752.html). No major damage that I can find on the top/display side of the piece, and that color really grabs you. 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.