Grossular (good sized crystal)

Item Description

Sierra de Cruces is a well-known locality for Grossular Garnet crystals, which are found in varied colors from pink to green with multiple shades in between. This piece is a classic example featuring a single, good sized, sharp, lustrous, well-formed dodecahedron with an eye-catching yellow-green hue. The piece is crystallized on all sides, but not quite what I would call a complete "floater". There is some minor roughness, but the piece is largely in great shape. You don't see too many pieces of this material featuring nearly 2-inch crystals, and the color is a stronger green hue than what I've seen compared to most from the locality. 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 passed away 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.