Ron Cauble, founder of The Bone Room, was obsessed with inclusions in amber. At Fossil and Mineral Shows he would typically be found seated at an amber dealer's booth, a great pile of amber pieces before him, peering through a loupe at the world inside each piece. Once his finds made their way home to Berkeley, Ron would painstakingly label each piece with the names of insects and other inclusions he could see with his 10x-power loupe, before handing the hoard over to Alex, the identifier, who with the aid of his microscope would provide more detailed and complete descriptions of the specimens. Then Ron would reappraise and price each piece.
Over the years, some of the pieces were sold to collectors and scientists (most notably, to George Poinar, recognized amber expert and author) - but Ron was always a better collector than salesman, and his collection grew to museum backroom proportions.
Finally we are getting a good start on cataloging and photographing his enormous collection of amber and copal, and offering this work of love and obsession to the public. We think Ron would approve.