Pallasite – PMG; Magadan District, Russia

It was in the 1960s that the first masses of Seymchan were found in a streambed in a part of Siberia made infamous as the remote location of Stalin’s gulags. Identified as meteorites, they were named Seymchan for a nearby town. Some specimens are olivine rich (see lot 39) and some are olivine poor (see lot 67); some specimens have no olivine whatsoever. The sphere now offered is of the latter variety.

The pattern seen results from extremely slow cooling over millions of years that provided sufficient time for the intergrowth of two iron-nickel minerals (kamacite and taenite). As the only place we know where this can occur is within the core of an asteroid — and theoretically deep within a planet like Earth — this pattern is diagnostic in the identification of an iron meteorite.

When fashioned into a sphere, Seymchan meteorites are able to reveal in three dimensions its crystalline fingerprint in a captivating perspective not available when from a flat surface. While Seymchan is among the most rust-resistant of iron-rich meteorites — in part due to its moderately high concentration of iridium, the second densest element and the most oxidation-resistant metal known — this sphere is also plated with rhodium. A member of the platinum metal group, rhodium is shinier, more durable, highly resistant to oxidation and forever lustrous — which makes this metallic crystal ball from outer space all the more mesmerizing.

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.

47mm (1.85 in.) in diameter and 447.3 grams (1 lb)