Grossular Garnet (classic material)

Item Description

The classic Grossular Garnets (sometimes referred to as "Hessonite Garnets" or "Cinnamon Grossulars") from the famed Jeffrey Mine in Quebec, are some of the most desirable and sought after Garnet crystals from any world locality. Now that the Jeffrey Mine is completely closed down, the supply of specimens has dried up, and the market reflects this as there are much fewer specimens out there as opposed to a few years ago. This specimen is features excellent quality, GEMMY, very sharp, highly lustrous, beautiful orange color Grossular crystals with striated dodecahedral faces measuring up to 1.3 cm with minor matrix. There are some contacts, so the piece is not damage-free, but the color, luster and gemminess are very good for the material. A great miniature sized example of these Canadian classics. 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.