Animal that Turned in to Jewel: The Ammonite

Ammonite was a deep water aquatic animal that existed in prehistoric age, the same time when the dinosaurs lived, about 65 million years ago. They came up with different sizes starting from few millimeters to ending up to two to three meters of diameters. As some extinct animals/plants turned into oil, some into coal; these ammonites turned into precious stone known as Ammolite.

Ammolites are also called biogenic gemstone due to the reason it is obtained through the organic substances like amber or pearls. In 1981 it was officially recognized as a gemstone. Ammolite has unique appearance and almost resembles with opal . It’s mostly present in the mountain rocks of North America.

Ammolite is extremely slim like a dragon’s skin and are cracked and broken apart from one another due to inside earth’s pressure. Hardly ever you can find an undamaged ammolite shell.

Now let’s discuss about how ammolite is used in different ornaments. Ammolite is delicate and fragile and is used in special ways with jewelries. Rings made of ammolite are very unusual but it is more appropriate for locket, earrings and other hanging style ornaments. Also doublets are more usual in which some material is connected with it from the rear to make it more stable. In triplets the artificial transparent layer is laid on the ammolite for more protection but that lessen its preciousness.

Source: Environmental Graffiti