When meteorite hunters discover an especially rare meteorite, one can be assured a larger search party will soon conduct a more-extensive search of the area (see lot 38). Sometimes different meteorites are found in the process — and once in a blue moon such serendipitous unrelated finds may yield something of extraordinary importance.

The slice now offered originates from a mass discovered in Algeria’s Erg Chech Sand Sea in 2020. When news of this recovery was made, the search expanded but no further pallasitic meteorites were found. However, a group of most unusual meteorites were stumbled upon — which turned out to be the oldest igneous (volcanic) rocks in the solar system (see lot 9).

It was previously mentioned that pallasites represent much less than 1% of all meteorites. Erg Chech 007, however, is more-rare still; a small fraction have chemical fingerprints so atypical they have been classified as anomalous or ungrouped. In the case of Erg Chech 007, its oxygen-isotopic composition features a high proportion of ¹⁸O (the heaviest oxygen isotope) as well as a high Fe/Mn value in its olivine crystals. The latter value is the highest ever reported for a pallasite, eclipsing the previous record holder, Krasnojarsk, the first known pallasite.

Erg Chech 007 is also distinctive in that its olivine is round and presents in translucent mango to amber hues. Originating from a single 8.33 kg mass, smaller than a bowling ball, specimens of Erg Chech 007 will be exceedingly difficult to obtain, and now offered is a select slice of what is among the most beautiful extraterrestrial substances known.

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.
118 x 121 x 2mm (4.66 x 4.75 x 0.1 in.) and 85 grams