A COMPLETE SLICE OF ADMIRE PALLASITE

A COMPLETE SLICE OF ADMIRE PALLASITE
Pallasite — PMG
Lyon County, Kansas (40°N, 89°W)
Resplendent extraterrestrial crystals of olivine and peridot are suspended in an iron-nickel matrix in this cut and polished complete slice. The parent asteroid from which this material originated was torn apart 100 million years ago. Modern cutting.
194 x 169 x 3mm. (7⅔ x 6⅔ x ⅛in.)
244.3g.

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Lot Essay

ADMIRE — EXTRATERRESTRIAL PERIDOT IN EVIDENCE IN COMPLETE SLICE

Admire is a member of the pallasite group of meteorites, widely considered to be the most beautiful of all meteorite varieties. Pallasites formed at the mantle-core boundary of an asteroid as grains of stony olivine (a magnesium-rich silicate mineral) settled atop the molten iron core. Gem-quality olivine is also known as the semi-precious gemstone peridot (the August birthstone)—and both are featured in this specimen. The olivine grains in Admire are somewhat rounded and somewhat angular, indicating that the rock was heated and recrystallized after it formed. Originating from the asteroid belt, the first two masses of Admire were ploughed up in 1881.

Christie's would like to thank Dr. Alan E. Rubin at the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles for his assistance in preparing this catalogue note.