I actually find these quite pretty, although I don’t think I want one of them anywhere near me.
The most common name I can find for them are “open mouth spheres” but there are also towers, cathedrals, and ‘meteorites’ in this… er… style?
These are sold as a range of different things, and the titles don’t even especially make it clear what they’re meant to be:
- Magnesite Goethite Sphere Needle Open Mouth Crystal Ball Reiki Healing Prophecy
- 171G Moroccan Open Smile Phosphorus Magnesium Mine Sphere
- Chessylite Blue Linarite Ball, Needle Ironstone Ball, Open Mouth Magnesite
- White Jade Goethite Ball Needle Ironstone Jade Open Mouth “Smile Crystal Ball”
They seem to be shards of fibreglass adhered into something which may or may not be legitimate – I have seen them glued into a Howlite tower with gaps in, but also into what looks like a piece of larvikite (claimed as a meteorite), and some things that look more like a golf ball.
It’s worth pointing out that the ‘needles’ extend far beyond the polished edges of the sphere/ball. They would have been sanded off were they not assembled afterwards.
They’re primarily sold from China, although there are UK sellers too. They nearly all seem to be claiming they’re coming from Morocco. They use the name of real minerals – goethite, magnesite, jade, linarite, ironstone, etc.
I’ve been bidding on these, but haven’t managed to get one cheap enough to justify just yet. Update coming when that happens.
