From the Greek"rhodon,"meaning"rose." A manganese silicate, often marked with black manganese oxide patterning across its pink surface—like ink spilled across a blush ground.

Russia's Ural Mountains are a historically important source. In nineteenth-century Russia, vases and ornaments carved from rhodonite furnished palace interiors. The columns of St Petersburg's metro stations are clad in it. Not kept in jewellery boxes—placed where people pass every day.

In 1966, New South Wales designated rhodonite as its state gemstone. From building stone to fine jewellery, the range this mineral covers is wider than most.