Brad Payne, The Gem Trader, had just offered up a really unique one on his website, and amazingly enough, this time it was still available. I told him this one must have had my name on it, and I can't wait to show The Meteorite Man next time I'm in his store. This one will blow his away.
0.21 ct. Pallasite Meteorite Peridot with Iridescent Flash
Color: Medium Yellowish-Green
Clarity: Eye Clean
Origin: Jepara Meteorite, Indonesia
Cut: Round Brilliant
Treatments: None
Measurements: 3.8 mm
What a great gem. Stony-iron meteorites (pallasites) are sometimes peppered with pockets of the mineral Olivine - the species that gives us gem Peridot here on earth. You may have seen that these are sometimes sliced and backlight to dramatic effect for display. As you may suspect, the olivine crystals have endured an incredible strain, from their origin in space to the enormous heat and pressure of their fall the earth. Only on exceptional occasions are there any intact, unfractured gemmy areas that can actually be faceted.
So having established the rarity of faceted pallasite Olivine, let us talk about the Jepara meteorite and its special qualities. Found in 2008 as a single, 500 kg piece, this pallasite had some of the best preserved Olivine crystals ever found - capable of producing gems that were much larger than the norm - in some cases upwards of 2 carats. What is even more, a very few Jepara stones have a strange and fascinating feature - a series of small acicular inclusions that are capable of an exceptional iridescent flash. The percentage of these that have enough needles - and in the correct orientation - is infinitesimal; maybe a 1/2 dozen stones have been seen. Take a look at the photos and you can simply cannot help but be impressed. It is a very dramatic, and quite celestial, phenomenon. At the risk of being overly dramatic, it is somewhat reminiscent of time-lapse star trail photography.
Simply an outstanding piece with one of the very rarest phenomena observable in a gem material. The stone is otherwise flawless and is nicely cut and bright. A lab cert stating the gem is pallasite Olivine accompanies the piece. A special stone.
http://www.thegemtrader.com/Dec15PPeridotPage.htm
I finally own a Pallasite version of my birthstone; it's extraterrestrial cousin, rarer than diamonds, or tanzanite, or just about anything else on earth. Woohoo!!
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I can hardly wait til it gets here!