Stony Iron, Pallasite (PAL)Atacama Desert, Chile (24°12' S, 68°48' W)

Details

PARTIAL SLICE OF IMILAC METEORITE WITH PERIDOT

Stony Iron, Pallasite (PAL)
Atacama Desert, Chile (24°12' S, 68°48' W)
Discovered in 1822 in Chile’s Atacama Desert. Modern cutting. Rectangular polished partial slice with highly translucent olivine and peridot suspended in a gleaming iron-nickel matrix.
91 x 84 x 2 mm (3½ x 3 1/3 x 1/8in.)
120g

Provenance

Natural History Museum, London

Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve. These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

Lot Essay

Similar to the previous two lots. A seeming mosaic of sparkling olivine embedded in a nickel-iron matrix, this specimen also contains gem-quality olivine or peridot, the birthstone of August. Derived from the core-mantle boundary of an
asteroid orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter, pallasites are the most exquisite extraterrestrial substance known, and this is a select example.

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