PALLASITE – PMG MAGADAN DISTRICT, RUSSIA (62°54’ N, 152°26’ E)

AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL CRYSTAL BALL — SEYMCHAN SPHERE

Less than 0.2% of all meteorites are pallasites, the most beautiful extraterrestrial substance known. Pallasites are formed at the core-mantle boundary of an asteroid that underwent mixing of the molten metal of the core with stony olivine from the mantle. The result is striking—olivine crystals suspended in an iron-nickel matrix. As seen in this sphere, Seymchan also contains gem-quality olivine otherwise known as peridot (the birthstone of August). Recovered in far northeastern Siberia, Seymchan is among the most dazzling of all meteorites and this wondrous three-dimensional presentation reveals aspects that are impossible to see on a flat surface. It appears the olivine is suspended or floating in a metallic sea—an image not far afield from the actual case of its parent asteroid floating in the void of interplanetary space. Originating from a larger Seymchan mass, this machined sphere underwent a number of stages of grinding and polishing in a sphere-making apparatus.

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.