Iridescent Ammonites

Iridescent Ammonites

Everyone loves Ammonites - these pieces have a stunning iridescent shine to the fossils shell. Ammonites are found throughout the world, but the source for many of ours is Madagascar; gemstone quality fossils with iridescence are found in the USA and Canada and are known as 'Ammolite'.

Most of these are Desmoceras or Cleoniceras, from the area around Mahajanga in Madagascar. They are from 102-110 million years old.
I am not confident enough in Ammonoid genetics to determine the species.

One thing you may notice is ammonites from Madagascar all have a flat saw cut across the last chamber, in the area where the 'cats paw' would be. This is because of laws restricting the export of 'unworked' fossils from Madagascar.

The grading of these pieces is done in two ways - both in quality of the colour flash, and in damage to the fossil itself. Pieces with lots of damage but a bright flash will be a C grade, maybe a B grade - pieces with a good flash and no damage will be B or A. In cases where there is a really good flash of colour, they might be an A grade still if theres some minor damage.

The pictures you see here are representative of the products and are usually not the exact item you will receive. Where various grades are available we do try to photograph each grade - but some photographs are still on their way!