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Real or fabricated?


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It is genuine, not fabricated. A typical specimen of polished ammonite from Madagascar, it is very abundant in Madagascar and tonnes of these polished ammonites were imported into China as decors or "feng shui" object.

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As these ammonites are quite common, they don't get sold at a very high price and aren't worth faking.

Life started in the ocean. And so did my interest in fossils;).

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3 hours ago, Henry T said:

Thank you everyone. I'm attracted to shiny, colorful things. Ha!

Then you will love Pyritized fossils, in some instances they can be beautiful.

Life started in the ocean. And so did my interest in fossils;).

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@Henry T

"Ammolite" is a jewelry industry trade term and is applied to material from Western Canada. While there is some similarity to the optical phenomenon displayed in your piece (almost certainly from Madagascar); it not does not share the properties of gem Ammolite. Your piece is an attractive example of an ammonite with a polished iridescent surface.

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See

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29 minutes ago, snolly50 said:

@Henry T

"Ammolite" is a jewelry industry trade term and is applied to material from Western Canada. While there is some similarity to the optical phenomenon displayed in your piece (almost certainly from Madagascar); it not does not share the properties of gem Ammolite. Your piece is an attractive example of an ammonite with a polished iridescent surface.

Thanks, I stand corrected, bad back and all regarding the Madagascar bit. 

But isn't ammolite officially accepted now and the trade name is Korite? 

Here's my ammolite from Canada.

Ammolite.thumb.jpg.24f327f97b41b8480a45ac4e9be6d770.jpg

 

Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

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25 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Thanks, I stand corrected, bad back and all regarding the Madagascar bit. 

But isn't ammolite officially accepted now and the trade name is Korite? 

Here's my ammolite from Canada.

It is my understanding that both Ammolite and Korite are "made-up" trade names put forth by industry for the purpose of identifying and branding a product. It is also my understanding that ammonites that display what has been dubbed Ammolite or Korite are only extant in Western Canada. Looking at your photo of Canadian ammolite, the difference in appearance (and of course more esoteric properties) from the superficial iridescence of Madagascar ammonites is apparent.

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See

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As I understand it when the ammonite was alive, nacre was the main component of the shell: after the organism’s death, the shell fossilised and formed aragonite. Then is colour is made by diffraction of the light rays passing through the aragonite probably like the same way light reflects the colours on a butterfly wing.  That is what I believe I maybe wrong.

 

Caloceras Johnstoni 

Watchet, Somerset, UK

 

cheers Bobby 

C7EC1597-85B5-4D87-AC84-7A4049101ACF.jpeg

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1 minute ago, Henry T said:

Um...it's pretty, colorful and I got  it for dirt cheap. ;)

Bargain for a beautiful ammonite  :)

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2 hours ago, Bobby Rico said:

As I understand it when the ammonite was alive, nacre was the main component of the shell: after the organism’s death, the shell fossilised and formed aragonite. Then is colour is made by diffraction of the light rays passing through the aragonite probably like the same way light reflects the colours on a butterfly wing.  That is what I believe I maybe wrong.

 

Yes, I believe you are correct, aragonite is the mineral responsible for the appearance of these beautiful fossils. I am very aware of the lovely specimens from the UK, such as the one you posted. Why they are distinguished from the Canadian material I am not certain. I do know of the UK pieces I have the colorful "shell" seems much thinner, less substantial, than the Canadian ammolite pieces that have passed through my hands. Even to the casual observer, however, in a side by side; the Madagascar pieces look very different from the UK or Canadian material. As I previously said, the designation of Ammolite was a marketing/branding decision. Perhaps we are seeing a simple branding claim. However, I have not seen or seen offered for sale, gem material that looked like Canadian Ammolite from any other part of the world. Here is a link to the article I posted when auctioning a piece to benefit this fine Forum. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammolite

 

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See

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16 minutes ago, snolly50 said:

Yes, I believe you are correct, aragonite is the mineral responsible for the appearance of these beautiful fossils. I am very aware of the lovely specimens from the UK, such as the one you posted. Why they are distinguished from the Canadian material I am not certain. I do know of the UK pieces i have the colorful shell" seems much thinner, less substantial than the Canadian ammolite pieces that have passed through my hands. Even to the casual observer, however in a side by side the Madagascar pieces look very different from the UK or Canadian material. As I previously said, the designation of Ammolite was a marketing/branding decision. Perhaps we are seeing a simple branding claim. However, I have not seen or seen offered for sale, gem material that looked like Canadian Ammolite from any other part of the world. Here is a link to the article I posted when auctioning a piece to benefit this fine Forum. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammolite

 

Sorry I think we have crossed wires here. I was just talking  about how the beautiful iridescent colours appear and are formed . You are right the ammonites  like this are paper thin in the uk. I was not in any way disputing anyone’s info.  Sorry it is probably is my dyslexic that has confused maters.   :)

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1 hour ago, Bobby Rico said:

Sorry I think we have crossed wires here. I was just talking  about how the beautiful iridescent colours appear and are formed . You are right the ammonites  like this are paper thin in the uk. I was not in any way disputing anyone’s info.  Sorry it is probably is my dyslexic that has confused maters.   :)

It is probably I, who was not the clearest in my post. I simply wished to note that the splendid UK material does indeed share visual characteristics with the Canadian material - not so, the Madagascar beyond the general characteristic of color play. The nature of the Madagascar material's color is very different from The UK or Canadian. 

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See

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5 hours ago, snolly50 said:

It is probably I, who was not the clearest in my post. I simply wished to note that the splendid UK material does indeed share visual characteristics with the Canadian material - not so, the Madagascar beyond the general characteristic of color play. The nature of the Madagascar material's color is very different from The UK or Canadian. 

Do you think the iridescents of the uk, Canadian and Madagascar ammonites are attributed to the chemical change that the nacre undergoes  in fossilisation or is the look just coincidental?  Very interesting I would love to get some of that Canadian ammonite shell for my collection to display next to my iridescent UK specimens . Thank you  @snolly50 for your interesting input.

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4 hours ago, Bobby Rico said:

Do you think the iridescents of the uk, Canadian and Madagascar ammonites are attributed to the chemical change that the nacre undergoes  in fossilisation

Hello, here is an article I just found.  I have only skimmed it; but it seems promising to shed some light, so I am posting a link.

 

https://www.gia.edu/doc/Iridescent-Fossilized-Ammonite-from-Southern-Alberta-Canada.pdf

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See

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On 4/26/2018 at 4:16 PM, Henry T said:

Um...it's pretty, colorful and I got  it for dirt cheap. ;)

Then you did GOOD!:)

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