Northwest Jewelry

Originally posted on 10-12-06 and moved to this blog: 

Well, I’m back from Canada and didn’t buy any ammolite. In fact, I only saw one sample in a pair of earrings. I wanted to post some pics, though, so dug around a bit in the basement and found some–I’d forgotten how pretty some of these pieces are–I think I may post them on the Northwest Jewelry website.  If you are a collector of precious and semi-precious gemstones, ammolite is a MUST for your collection.  Be warned, though–ammolite is not an inexpensive gemstone and the price is rising all the time.

Here’s the short version on ammolite;

They are the fossilized remains of the prehistoric shellfish ammonite, whose shell resembles a nautilu. Only the samples which have the iridescence phenomena are considered gemstone material and only in Canada have iridescent ammolites been found.

Iridescent ammolite was declared a gemstone in 1981, one of only three new gemstones in the last 50 years.

Ammolites with three or more prominent vibrant colors are generally considered to be high in value, although single colored stones with high color and iridescence can also be rated highly.