Gibeon Iron Meteorite Carved Cabochon WIDMANSTATTEN Jewelry Wire-Wrap Carving

Description

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Hi there, I am selling this  Amazing Gibeon Iron Meteorite etched cabochon! Meteorites are one of the RAREST materials on earth, more rare than diamonds!!!!
This one fell in Namibia South Africa. The etched surface of this specimen reveals the natural Widmanstten pattern.
The Widmanstatten pattern is a crystal structure that occurs only in the iron-nickel meteorites.
For this to form, the parent body has to be large enough that most of it's metal content melted and sank to the core, then slowly cooled over millions of years.
Then at some point, this large body was destroyed and shattered, eventually raining pieces of itself down on Earth.
When you hold this cabochon in your hand, you are holding the core of a small planet that no longer exists!
This is one of the most prized possessions I have and I know it would make an AMAZING addition to any collection of ANY type,
but especially of meteorites and stones!  Don't let this one pass you by. Anyway, I am offering it here, now, for you.
Hopefully this will find a great home out there, and make someone thrilled.
This is carved into a cabochon that is etched and rounded on the top and flat on the bottom, but etched perfectly on both sides!
It would be perfect if it were wire wrapped into a pendant masterpiece that was reversible, that would be stellar!
It would also look great as a ring too.
This beautiful little guy weighs 8.65 carats, which is 1.73 grams and measures 10 mm by 8 mm by 3 mm thick!
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask me.
Have fun bidding, thanks so much for visiting my auction and have a great day:>)
If you purchase from me you should know that the authenticity of this meteorite is guaranteed!
I am a member of the IMCA or the International Meteorite Collector's Association. This is an organization that is a check and balance of those who collect, trade and sell meteorites. You can only join this organization by having the utmost integrity. You must to have two references from existing members to get in and a good reputation. Members of this organization maintain a high standard by monitoring each others' activities for accuracy and honesty. It is every IMCA member's responsibility and pleasure to offer help and assistance to fellow members in order to ensure specimens are genuine. It is not wise to purchase meteorites on Ebay or other sources from those who are not IMCA members. This is a very tight-knit community made up of meteorite hunters, dealers, collectors, and scientists who look out for each other to make sure that the meteorites offered to the public are authentic and genuine. I encourage you to visit the IMCA website and get more information on what being a member means, and how your purchases from its members are guaranteed.
IMCA Member #7446
Below is some information about this meteorite:
Gibeon (meteorite)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gibeon
ImageGibeon (meteorite)
Gibeon meteorites in Post Street Mall, Windhoek
Meteorite type:
Iron
Group:
IVA
Structural classification:
Fine octahedrite
Composition:
91,8% Fe; 7,7% Ni; 0,5% Co; 0,04% P; 2,4 ppm Ir; 1,97 ppm Ga; 0,111 ppm Ge
Country:
Namibia
Region:
Great Namaqualand
Coordinates:
show location on an interactive map25°20′S 18°00′E / 25.333°S 18°ECoordinates:  show location on an interactive map25°20′S 18°00′E / 25.333°S 18°E
Observed fall:
No
Fall date:
prehistoric times
Found date:
1838
Total Known Weight (TKW):
26000 Kg
Widmanstätten pattern:
Widmanstätten pattern
Gibeon is a meteorite fallen in prehistoric times in Namibia. It was named after the nearest town: Gibeon (Namibia).
Contents
1 History
2 Strewn field
3 Composition and classification
4 Notes
History
It was discovered by natives (Namaqua) and used to build arrows and other tools.
In 1836[1] the English capitain J. E. Alexander collected some samples in the Great Fish River area and sent them to London. Here John Herschel analyzed them and confirmed for the first time the extraterrestrial nature of the material.
Strewn field
The fragments in the strewn field are dispersed over a 275 km long and 100 km wide elliptical-shaped area.
Composition and classification
Gibeon meteorites are made of an iron-nickel alloy, but contain also cobalt and phosphorus. The crystal structure of this meteorite is a classic example of fine octahedrite and the Widmanstatten pattern aesthetically appreciated both by collectors and jewel designers.
Notes
^ Meteoritical Bulletin Database: Gibeon
Since it was first discovered in 1836 in Great Namaqualand, Namibia, Africa, more than 25 tons of Gibeon meteorites have been recovered and although export and sale was banned by the Namibian government, it is still one of the most commonly available meteorites on the market today. The Gibeon meteorites come from broken asteroid fragments or an exploded star and radiometric dating places the age at around 4 billion years old.
Gibeon meteorites are composed of iron, nickel and small amounts of cobalt and classified as a fine octahedrite iron meteorite. Some other minerals that may be found in the meteorite are chromite, deabreelite, enstatite, kamacite, taenite, troilite or tridymite.
Lines and patterns are the result of cooling in outer space over billions of years and etching slices with dilute nitric acid allow these patterns known as "Widmanstatten lines" to be more visible.
Until recent years, most Gibeon meteorites that were recovered weighed between 200 and 1100 pounds. One of the largest masses ever found weighed over 1400 pounds. Probably due to better metal detection equipment, many smaller specimens have been recovered recently.
When a meteorite enters the Earth's atmosphere, friction raises the surface temperature above its melting point. As the meteorite descends, it slows down, and the heat from friction decreases resulting in a thin layer of dark glass. The surface on some meteorite's may develop shallow pits during the entry process and these pits resemble thumb prints and are known as regmaglypts. Imagine bread dough that has been kneaded which leaves finger imprints in the dough ball.
Gibeon Meteorite Folklore, Legend & Healing Properties:
Kalahari Desert tribesmen picked up meteorites that lay on the ground's surface and made arrowheads and assagai-heads, a javelin type weapon made of long, thin pointed iron rods with sharp edges.
Meteoric iron is used for alignment and balancing; it symbolizes the aptitude and strength required for endurance. Nickel is thought to purify the blood and increase the body's iron content.
Cabochon
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A cabochon, from the Middle French caboche (head), is a gemstone which has been shaped and polished as opposed to faceted. The resulting form is usually a convex top with a flat bottom. Cutting en cabochon is usually applied to opaque gems, while faceting is usually applied to transparent stones. Hardness is also taken into account as softer gemstones with a hardness lower than 7 on the Mohs hardness scale are easily scratched, mainly by silicon dioxide in dust and grit. This would quickly make translucent gems unattractive—instead they are polished as cabochons, making the scratches less evident.
In the case of asteriated stones such as star sapphires and chatoyant stones such as cat's eye chrysoberyl, a domed cabochon cut is used to show the star or eye, which would not be visible in a faceted cut.
The usual shape for cutting cabochons is an ellipse. This is because the eye is less sensitive to small asymmetries in an ellipse, as opposed to a uniformly round shape, such as a circle, and because the elliptical shape, combined with the dome, is attractive.[why?] An exception is cabochons on some watches' crowns, which are round.
The procedure is to cut a slab of the rough rock with a slab saw, and next to stencil a shape from a template. The slab is then trimmed to near the marked line using a diamond blade saw—called a trim saw. Diamond impregnated wheels or silicon carbide wheels can be used to grind the rough rock down. Most lapidary workshops and production facilities have moved away from silicon carbide to diamond grinding wheels or flat lap disks.
Once the piece is trimmed it can be "dopped" or completed by hand. "Dopping" is normally done by adhering the stone with hard wax onto a length of wooden dowel called a "dop stick". The piece is then ground to the template line, the back edges may be beveled, and finally the top is sanded and polished to a uniform dome.
Moonstone cabochons in a jewellers window
A round sapphire cabochon on the crown of a men's dress watch.
Amber pendants. The oval cabochon pendant is 52 × 32 mm (2 × 1.3 in).