The spectacular sight and sound of a large meteor not only shattered the skies above central Russia one cold clear February morning, it also sparked fear, curiosity and yes – desire - across the globe. Luckily there’s a heavenly assortment of meteorite products available for sale, so stop wishing on a falling star and whip out your wallets instead!
1. Antoine Preziuso T21 Muonionalusta Tourbillon
Images via: Antiquorum, Elena Stanescu and Wikipedia
The unique “Only Watch 2005″ T21 Muonionalusta Tourbillon by Antoine Preziuso (above, left) features a case precision-milled from a single piece of the Muonionalusta meteorite. Complementing the case are a Mississippi alligator band, luminous “Feuille” hands and rhodium-plated decorative detailing. This watch sold for 60,000 euros.
Image via: Antiquorum
The Muonionalusta meteorite was originally found near Kiruna, Sweden, in 1906. When polished, metal from this meteorite displays particularly striking Windmanstatten patterns formed only when molten metal cools ever so slowly over millions of years - an effect only possible in the airless reaches of outer space.
2. Meteorite Dice & Dwarven Stones
Images via: Boardgame Geek and Crystal Caste
Gaming dice made from meteorite metal are about the closest thing to real magic RPG-enthusiasts are going to find. Take these Meteorite Dwarven Stones sold (when supply permits) by Crystal Caste. That’s a meteoric D20 above left, beside a milled titanium die, priced from $50 to $300 depending on size. The $100, 6-sided cubic die above right was sourced from the Ghubara meteorite that fell in Oman in 1954. Nine pieces weighing approximately 100 kg (about 220 lbs) were recovered.
3. Meteorite Christmas Ornament
Images via: CustomMade/John Biagiotti
What do Martians hang on their Christmas trees? Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulators and meteorite-metal ornaments, of course! While the former is rather difficult to procure even if you’re name is Marvin, the latter is a different matter thanks to John Biagiotti of CustomMade.
Image via: CustomMade/John Biagiotti
Priced between $3,000 and $4,000, the out-of-this-world ornament is made from metal sourced from the mainly iron, 57,000-lb+ Gibeon meteorite and the 3,100-lb+ stony-iron Huckitta meteorite. The hollowed sphere is held together with rare earth magnets and the decorative star and loop on the top are crafted from 18k gold with a small diamond set inside the top. The bottom half does double duty as a ring holder just in case splashing out four grand on an albeit unique Xmas ornament left a few more Franklins burning a hole in your pocket.
4. Custom Knives by Daniel Fronefield
Images via: Custom Knives by Daniel Fronefield
Daniel Fronefield’s website hasn’t been updated in over a decade but whether his handmade knives are still available or not, we all can visually appreciate the fine craftsmanship Fronefield put into his creations. In addition to meteorite iron used mainly for the knife blades and bolsters, Fronefield will use fossilized bone and ivory from extinct creatures such as mammoths and dinosaurs, polished fossil cave bear teeth and other exotic natural woods & minerals.
Image via: Custom Knives by Daniel Fronefield
In addition to the iron meteorite and 1084 steel laminated blade, Fronefield’s $1,935 Midnight folding knife features materials sourced from no less than three very different meteorites! Etched Gibeon nickel-iron meteorite forms the bolsters, the handles are diamond-cut from the dark Renfrow stony meteorite, and the spine and thumb-bob display Albin stony-iron meteorite inlays.
5. Meteorite Wedding Rings
Images via: Art Fire/JewelryByJohan
Just over $2,300 will buy you this Gibeon meteorite, 14K yellow gold an black diamond wedding band set available in sizes 4 to 16. If the point is declaring one’s eternal love for another, then presenting a ring whose main component is older than life on Earth makes a pretty convincing statement. These and other rings designed by JewelryByJohan employ various combinations of precious metals, rare woods, fine gemstones, and exotic materials such as deer antler and even dinosaur bone along with meteorite metal. Now stop staring and say “I do!”
6. Poker Chips Made With Meteorite
Images via: Luxury Branded and Stahl Bespoke Jewels
Poker chips are supposed to be substitutes for cold hard cash but “The Meteorite Set” from Sweden’s Stahl Bespoke Jewels beautifully turns that concept on its head. Priced at a cold hard $150,000, this jaw-dropping set of chips features polished, ring-shaped slices of the Muonionalusta meteorite inlaid onto the chip faces and brilliant diamonds, rubies and yellow sapphires around their edges.
Image via: Luxury Branded
Each one of the 120 chips in the set is individually numbered and hallmarked. A total of 5,160 gemstones and diamonds grace these chips. Break ‘em down and you’ve got approximately 205 carats of diamonds and around 50 carats of rubies and sapphires. That’s hard to top but Stahl makes a valiant effort, including six dice hand-painted, calibrated and signed dice made from fossilized Siberian mammoth ivory.
7. Meteorito Wine
Images via: Newlaunches.com, The Drinks Business and Astronomy
Expatriate Englishman Ian Hutcheon’s Tremonte Vineyard in Chile’s Cachapoal Valley produces a rather unique Cabernet Sauvignon called Meteorito. While imbibers might not taste it, the wine is aged along with a 4.5 billion-year-old meteorite resting at the bottom of the barrel. The three-inch-wide meteorite is on loan from an American collector but it’s believed to have local provenance as part of a strike into the Atacama Desert roughly 6,000 years ago.
Image via: CBC.ca
“I’ve been involved in wines and astronomy for many, many years and I wanted to find some way of combining the two,” explained Hutcheon. “When you drink this wine, you are drinking elements from the birth of the solar system.” Around 10,000 litres of the meteor-aged wine have been made so far and if you’d like to knock back a glass or two, book time at Hutcheon’s Centro Astronomico Tagua Tagua observatory. You’ll be starry-eyed in no time.
8. Grayson Tighe Gibeon Meteorite Pens
Image via: Airline International
The Grayson Tighe Gibeon Meteorite pen is a very limited edition of 18 fountain pens and 18 roller ball pens. The pens feature barrels made from the Gibeon Meteorite that fell in Namibia and are accented with Guilloché engraved Stainless Steel. While the roller ball pen offers ease of maintenance thanks to an advanced refill system that has a one-year cap-off time, it’s the fountain pen that really stands out: a Tighe nib handmade in Germany is highlighted with 18K yellow gold, engraved with a specially designed Acanthus leaf, tipped with Iridium (a metal rare on Earth but common in meteorites) and two-toned with Rhodium. No price is listed on the company website, you’ll have to call and ask in person.
9. Apophis USB Flash Drive
Image via: ZaNa Design
The Apophis USB Flash Drive from ZaNa Design matches your mundane everyday data with a 4.5 billion year old chip off one of the solar system’s building blocks…those cute cat pics had better be keepers!
Images via: Sinbadesign and Google+/Mashable
The Polish-based company named the drive after 99942 Apophis, the thousand-foot wide Earth-grazing asteroid recently thought to have a slight chance of impacting the Earth in 2029 or, if it should miss us, 2036. On the bright side, if Apophis DOES score a bulls eye there’ll be plenty of meteoric material available and the price of ZaNa Design’s USB flash drives should drop accordingly.
Image via: ZaNa Design
The 64GB Apophis USB Flash Drive features, in addition to the trimmed and polished chip of meteorite, a 0.04 carat diamond and your choice of .925 silver or 18-carat gold trim housed in a case made from rare, 200-year old African Blackwood. Pricing ranges from $1,130 for the silver-trimmed version up to $1,990 if you’re going for the gold.
Images via: Redditbot
Some people are uncomfortable with the practice of “commercializing” meteorites, preferring they be preserved as-is and only displayed under glass in science museums. Here’s a newsflash: they already are and always have been, and as last week’s Russian meteor strike so loudly proved, more are arriving all the time. As long as a rough balance between demand by scientists and demand from the market is maintained, meteorite merchandise has a bright future - which is really saying something considering these original rock stars are billions of years old.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please adhere to proper blog etiquette when posting your comments. This blog owner will exercise his absolution discretion in allowing or rejecting any comments that are deemed seditious, defamatory, libelous, racist, vulgar, insulting, and other remarks that exhibit similar characteristics. If you insist on using anonymous comments, please write your name or other IDs at the end of your message.