GIBEON METEORITE PENDANT on CHAIN.......................$75.00
Meteorite Pendant…for an out-of-this-world person!!
This pendant was created with a piece of genuine meteorite.
The meteorite slice is set in sterling silver.
A small stamped design circular element spins loosely
around on the front side. The design hangs 1-1/4” from the
sterling silver box style chain (20” long).
The meteorite alone measure 5/8” x 9/16” and feature a
beautiful etched “Widmanstatten Pattern” on the surface
(see history below). This pendant is one-of-a-kind.
Gibeon Meteorites are nickel iron in composition. They are found
in the south African country of Namibia and were first found in
1836, although native inhabitants knew about them before then
...creating useful tools like arrows from them. The Gibeon was
apparently a large meteorite that burst high in the atmosphere.
Fragments spread over a strewn field 70 miles wide by 230 miles
--one of the largest strewn fields in the world. No Gibeon crater
has yet been found. Radiometric dating places the age of crystallization
of the iron-nickel metal in the Gibeon at 4 billion years.
An English Captain discovered some in 1836 on the Great Fish River in Africa
and sent them to London. Here John Herschel analyzed them and confirmed
for the first time the extraterrestrial nature of the material. Most specimens
show flight markings and evidence of a violent atmospheric breakup.
A beautiful fine octahedrite pattern shows on the surface
...also referred to as Windmanstatten Pattern.
This pattern is only created by extremely slow cooling (1-100 degrees per
1 million years!)...only found in extraterrestrial iron. The fine interweaving
of kamacite and taenite bands or ribbons creates this pattern. It can easily
be seen upon close viewing of the surface which was etched to bring out this
pattern. This meteorite is 90% nickel iron but also contains cobalt and phosphorus.
See EARRINGS for Meteorite Earrings.
This item comes gift boxed.