ammolite... pretty colors!

[fluffysquid]

So I just returned from a vacation to the Canadian Rockies and I picked up a few nifty locally-grown things there.

Has anyone heard of "ammolite"? It appears to be fossilized ammonites that aquired an amazing iridescence all over the surface somewhere in the process. Reds, greens, yellow, blue, purples. Reminds me of the most firey opal i've ever seen. I picked up a small chunk. It's just a millimeter or so of it on a base of limonite, quite fragile. Usually they protect it with a clear coating or (for jewelry) with a spinel cap.

Pictures soon to follow.

 

[Architeuthoceras]

Very pretty stuff Ammolite. I think it is the nacreous portion of the shell replaced with a different form of calcite.

Here is a example appraisal of an ammonite with an ammolite shell

 

[Mizu]

WOW
thats stuff is AWESOME
Gemstone Cephalapod Fossils
very neat

 

[fluffysquid]

yep, thats the stuff! I picked up just a section of one as well as a flashy blue-green-purple pendant. There were complete ammonites all over the place for sale though.

There were some as large as in that link, others ranged down to 6 inches for, say, $400 and up.

 

[Fini]

That's gorgeous! It reminds me of raku pottery.

 

[sorseress]

Wow! That's spectacular! Only $91,425.00, huh?

 

[main_board]

One of only two, I think, gem stones considered to be organic in origin. The other being amber, of course.

Cheers!

 

[erich orser]

That's truly beautiful - and priced for the thrifty!

 

[Jean]

gorgeous................must get one with my spare cash

J

 

[Tintenfisch]

Yeah, I'll take 3.

 

[OB]

No, pleeeeease don't tell me I have to sell YET ANOTHER ferrari, do I? This hobby is seriously eating into my trust fund...