beautiful opalescent colorful ammonite, called Ammolite, from Canada

A free-prepared Ammolite from Alberta, Canada, preserved on both sides and grown to 32.5 cm in diameter.

The iridescence of this piece is dominated by deep red and orange, interspersed with emerald green and blue accents in the thinner shell parts. A color palette that is particularly sought after by collectors as a ruby-red-amber-yellow combination.

Ammolite consists of the iridescent aragonite shell of prehistoric ammonites. In the Bearpaw Shale of the Upper Cretaceous, the shell was transformed into its present opalescent form about 65 million years ago under pressure and mineralization.

Only a narrow geographical strip along the eastern Rocky Mountain slopes yields this quality, predominantly in the St. Mary River basin.

The color development of the individual iridescent fields is not accidental: red-orange results from thinner layers, green-blue from thicker ones. On such a piece, the layer thickness variation of the original shell can be observed, information that would be lost in polished cabochons.

A collector's item preserved on both sides. The red dominance makes it a warm accent next to cooler pieces in a mixed collection.