Found near Oman’s border with Yemen in 2010, Dhofar 1989 is the 1989th meteorite to be catalogued from the Omani Dhofar Desert region. A member of the enigmatic ureilite group, the composition of ureilitic meteorites is unlike that of any other meteorite. The origin of ureilites is unknown, its parent body yet to be identified. Ureilites are achondrites (i.e., meteorites without chondrules) that typically contain graphite and nanodiamonds — whose presence hints at a history of at least one extremely violent impact event. Many ureilites have a cumulate texture, which is to say they are igneous rocks that form from the accumulation of crystals that precipitated from a magma (a mixture of molten rock and mineral grains). Because of the diamonds, many ureilites are notoriously difficult to cut and prepare.

Dhofar 1989 is a textbook example of an exotic ureilite. Somewhat triangular, this complete slice is wrapped in fusion crust and displays a classic cumulate texture, the result of the settling of olivine and orthopyroxene grains to the base of a magma chamber on an asteroid. The dark patches seen are flakes of graphite, a crystalline form of carbon, which are abundant in Dhofar 1989. Diamonds are another form of carbon, and are richly abundant in this specimen. For that someone special.

Christie's would like to thank Dr. Alan E. Rubin at the Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles for his assistance in preparing this catalogue.

79 x 108 x 4mm (3 x 4.25 x 0.1 in.) and 64.78 grams