Ammolite Fossil Pendant on sterling silver chain

Artisan Jewelry : Necklaces : Ammolite Fossil Pendant

 

This ammolite pendant is a 70-million year old snail fossil found only in Alberta, Canada. The snails were huge (2-3 ft. in diameter) when they were living under the ocean waters which still covered British Columbia and Alberta, before the Ice Age forced the lands upwards. Some specimens of museum quality show round spots in the ammolites which were the teeth marks of dinosaurs which ate the snails. Even dinosaurs were fond of escargots, but may have forgone the garlic butter!

I buy the ammolite "rough" (chunks or slices of the shell) and slice, shape and polish the individual pieces, in order to pass on the savings to my customers. As the layers of colors are very fragile, like shale, and flake off easily, I stabilize each piece with a top coat of jeweler's epoxy glue, which adds a brilliant shine to the stone. Incidentally, the layers are in the form of a rainbow, with the Purple-Blue colors the rarest, then Blue-Green, going down to the more commonly seen Red, Red-Green, Green, and Green-Yellow.

This pendant was set in a Sterling Silver bezel on a silver backing sheet, and hangs from an 18" silver chain. The pendant is 1 1/2" wide x 1/2" high.

It shows remarkable "fire" as can be seen in the accompanying photographs. The artist's Logo is stamped on the back.

It will be shipped in a gift box or bag, and insured.

Own a piece of History!

Item ID: jfd117