Seymchan Meteorite | Extraterrestrial Crystal Ball — Crystalline Structure of Seymchan Pallasite Dramatized in Sphere

Now offered is a marvelous three-dimensional display of a Seymchan pallasite’s internal structure as revealed in a large crystal ball. Similar to lots 103 and 111, pallasites represent merely 0.2% of all known meteorites. This specimen is most unusual in that it is primarily composed of olivine and peridot (gem quality olivine) with only wisps of metal, which evoke the Aramaic alphabet, coursing through the matrix. This effect is due to this sphere being fashioned from an extremely gem-rich section of the meteorite.

The Seymchan meteorite originated from the core-mantle boundary of an asteroid that broke apart during early solar system history. Following pinball-like impacts in space, a large mass was serendipitously bumped into an Earth-crossing orbit. Having arrived on Earth thousands of years ago, specimens of the Seymchan meteorite were first discovered in 1967 near the settlement of Seymchan in the Magadan District of Russia — the locality of Stalin’s gulags.

This specimen was derived from a large Seymchan meteorite that underwent a number of stages of cutting, grinding and polishing in a sphere-making apparatus. Amber-hued olivine and peridot crystals overflow in this unique offering of what is far more than most, a true crystal ball of gems from outer space — and the most beautiful extraterrestrial substance known.