Rhodochrosite

Item Description

Going back to the middle of the 20th Century, long before the Sweet Home Mine was actively being worked, people associated the Sunnyside with Colorado Rhodochrosite. This famous locality was the only mine where people could get richly colored Rhodochrosite crystals in any quantity from the entire state. Small discoveries were made at other Colorado Mines, but the Sunnyside was active for many years, and consistently produced good Rhodos. This locality is completely closed down, and good specimens are highly sought after by collectors around the world. This gorgeous thumbnail specimen is a wonderful, sharp, translucent, rich reddish-pink color rhombs of Rhodochrosite, free of matrix. A very eye-catching and showy specimen for any collector of Rhodochrosites or Colorado minerals. It should be noted that many of these pieces are labeled as coming from the American Tunnel, but the good Rhodos all came from the upper levels of the Sunnyside Mine. 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.