Have you ever been gifted a real stone?

Do you know if it is authentic or fake?

Every real stone has certain properties and their impact on the person who owns them.

Stones are precious because the process of its discovery and extraction is time-consuming and tedious.

The formation of stone is a long process that takes hundreds and thousands of years.

In this article, I will talk about a certain stone called, Meteorite.

I will tell you what Meteorite is, its different types, and how it is used as a piece of jewelry.

So, let’s start.

Difference between Meteoroid, Meteor, and Meteorite

• Meteoroid – Meteoroids are small pieces of space debris that are present in the outer space. The meteoroids can be as big as the size of large boulders. They are formed when comets or asteroids break and some of them are formed like other stars in our solar system.
• Meteor – A meteoroid starts burning when it enters a planet’s atmosphere and it leaves a visible trail across the sky. This is when the meteoroid is called a Meteor. When it travels through the Earth’s atmosphere, it is referred to as shooting stars.
• Meteorite – Most of the meteors burn before touching the surface of a planet. The meteor that survives and strikes the surface of the planet, it is called Meteorite. They are mostly originated in the asteroid belt between the planets of Mars and Jupiter. Meteorites travel at a very high speed and when they touch the planet they form craters. The larger the meteorite, the more visible craters. A meteorite weighs less than a gram or more than 60 tons.

Meteorites are mostly found in deserts where they can accumulate with time.

Types of Meteorite

There are three main types of meteorites:

1.   Iron meteorites

Iron meteorites are only 6% of all meteorites recovered. They are almost completely made of Iron. They may include cobalt or nickel in it. Iron meteorites have distinctive crystalline structure known as a Widmanstätten texture.

2.   Stony-iron meteorites

Stony-iron meteorites have almost equal amounts of iron-nickel metal and silicate crystals. They are the most beautiful meteorites.

The two different types of stony-iron meteorites are

• Pallasite – Pallasites contain big, beautiful olive-green crystals which are a form of magnesium-iron silicate called Olivine that is embedded entirely in metal. They are rarer than gold and very few pieces. It is believed that they are derived from an extinct planet that was destroyed in some sort of cataclysmic event.
• Mesosiderite – Mesosiderite is a rock which is made of combination of different broken fragments of minerals or rock cemented together by a finer material. When two asteroids collide the debris is mixed together and forms mesosiderites.

3.   Stony meteorites

Stony meteorites are the most common type of meteorite which is rich in silica.

They are divided into two categories: chondrites and achondrites.

Chrondites have never been melted and therefore they are the most ancient and pristine rocks in the solar system. They are made from droplets of silicate minerals mixed with small grains of sulphides and iron-nickel metal. Solar system is made up of chondrites material.

Achondrites are made up of meteorites from asteroids, Mars and the Moon. They are melted into magma which when cools and crystallizes; it creates a concentric layered structure. Achondrites tell about the internal structure and formation of the planets.

4 Ways to tell if Meteorite is Authentic

Meteorite is formed after such a long process and bears so much before touching the planet’s surface that it is considered precious. They are expensive and close to heart of people who owns it.

But people with little or no knowledge may get fooled by the sellers of meteorites. Following are four ways to identify a real meteorite.

1.   Authentic Meteorite is Magnetic

About 99% of meteorite is magnetic, and real meteorite will be attracted to the magnet. If your jewelry is not magnetic, then it is not a real meteorite.

2.   Real Meteorite Has the Potential to Rust

Meteorites contains iron therefore, it does have the potential to rust. Meteorite jewelry needs proper care to prevent it from rusting. Some of the jewelers offer re-etching service to remove rust.

3.   Authentic Meteorite Jewelry Includes a Certificate of Authenticity

Some sellers of authentic meteorite jewelry provides a Certificate of Authenticity so that you know where your meteorite originated from and have peace of mind that it’s the real deal.

4.   Exposure to Strong Acids will Damage Real Meteorite

Meteorite reacts with strong acids, including hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, and sulfuric acid. These acids can damage real meteorite.

Meteorite as Jewelry

Since each meteorite fragment is one-of-a-kind, therefore every jewelry piece is unique. Some jewelers show sample pieces but that might differ from the real piece. Some people wear meteorite jewelry for its metaphysical healing purposes. It is believed that it has healing powers and can give mental peace to the person who wears it.

Some common meteors used in jewelry:

• Moldavite is formed on the place where a meteor hits the Earth. It is in the form of silica based glass or “tektite”. When meteor hits the surface it creates an explosive energy which liquefies the silica on the ground and throws it into the upper atmosphere where it cools and rain back down onto the earth.
• Tektite is the scientific term that includes moldavite, Tibetan tektite, Libyan Desert glass and a few others. The dark black hued tektites are the remnants of an incredible meteor impact somewhere over the Indochina region (Tibet).

Now you know what meteorites are and different types of it. Meteorite jewelry is not only fashionable but unique because of its one-of-a-kind feature. If you are looking for Moldavite jewelry, Tektite or Pallasite jewelry then you can check Crystalife. It is a crystal shop that sells different types of crystals, minerals and metals that are unique and one-of-a-kind.