Meteorite Rings

Many years ago, I was commissioned to made two matching wedding bands using meteorites. It became quite the project for a number of reasons. Meteorites come from outer space and therefore arrive being radioactive and they are usually made up of iron and nickel but can also have other materials in the mix.

I researched to find a radioactive cold deposit of meteorite and Chile has some of the oldest know meteorites. I bought a large piece of Chilean Meteorite to break up and use for the rings.

The nickel in the iron was the next problem. The EU has a ban on the use of nickel that is to be worn against the skin. This is because about 10% of the world’s population is allergic to nickel. I sent a sample of the meteorite to the Birmingham Assay Office in the UK to be analysed. The material was not consistent but it had between 6% to 7% nickel, 92% to 94% iron with some small grains of silica.

The Assay Office had to have three meetings to decide whether the meteorite was a metal or a mineral. I suppose the silica kept them arguing over that one. I had to cut two discs to place on the inner forearm of the clients with a bandaid. They had to wear it for three days to see if they were allergic. The clients were fine. The Assay Office then decided that it was a metal and not a mineral but I could set the metal in 18k white gold as if it was a gem material. That meant it had to be clamped and not soldered.

The meteorite was shattered inside from the heat shock of being freezing cold in space to very hot on entry. When cutting, the pieces kept breaking up and it would take four attempts to make a briquette. Each ring needed about 15 briquettes to surround the ring. I had hoped that the iron would be soft and easy to shape but the nickel made it very hard and it was a close call meeting the deadline for the wedding.

This commission inspired me to design a wedding band range of mixed coloured golds that could be made in different combinations. You can see some of the examples that are in white and yellow gold in the Art Lab store on this website, along with many other jewellery pieces.