Ammolite (Opalescent Placenticeras Fossil)

Item Description

This is a classic Ammolite gem from the most famous locality in the world for the material. I think a lot of people have heard of Ammolite, but the name can be a bit confusing, because some people might be familiar with Ammonite fossil, but not the gem material. Essentially Ammolite is the gem name given to the opalescent fossils shells of Ammonite (Placenticeras) primarily from Alberta, Canada. The material has been analyzed and is actually Aragonite, so this is one of those cool blendings of the gem/mineral/fossil world all in one place. You don't see a lot of gem quality fossil material from any world locality, let alone one that contains an actual mineral species. It's actually what's referred to as a biogenic gemstone, meaning that it came from or contains organic material, e.g., Pearl, Amber or Coral. What makes Ammolite so enticing is the intense rainbow of colors that they exhibit, ranging from fiery reds and oranges to shimmering cool greens, blues and purples. According to the listing from Wikipedia, "unlike most other gems, whose colors come from light absorption, the iridescent color of ammolite comes from interference with the light that rebounds from stacked layers of thin platelets that make up the aragonite". This stone is features an attractive "scaly" or "snakeskin"-esque pattern throughout. This gem features a wonderfully rich mix of colors with strong red, orange, golden, yellow and green hues. Hard to find on the market now, and according to what I've been told, little mining has been done recently, so these gems are becoming quite difficult to find these days.