SPECTACULAR GEMS FROM SPACE

You might not believe it, but some of the stones used in the manufacture of garments are gems from space. They are becoming more and more popular and they are very expensive. They come from outer space in the form of meteorites that make people fall in love with them and intrigue designers who strive to create unique and exceptional pieces of art.

It is hard to know who they belong to, because the law is different everywhere. In the United States, they belong to the owner of the land where they fall. In Spain there is a legal vacuum; in Japan they belong to whoever finds them; in some European countries they have to be taken to the Member State; in Argentina are considered cultural property. Anyway, depending on the country where the meteorite falls, the laws should be considered to determine the possibility of its use and exploitation. Noble metals and precious stones are combined with natural elements such as resins, bones, wood, and synthetic materials.

Veronica Reyes is an expert in meteorite hunting. She spent many years looking for them in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile.  One day she made herself a Mesosiderite pendant and the idea flourished, so she created a business of jewelry from outer space. In 2006 she said, “meteorites need contain iron and nickel in order to be used in jewelry”, she explains. “They are submitted to a process of stoning, i.e. we cut the stone and make it a real jewel that can be encrusted.”

“From Antofagasta, we go into the desert, set up our camp and start searching” says Reyes. “We start walking at 8am and stop at 4pm. Walking longer than that could be dangerous, because the wind there blows with a speed of over 90 km per hour. Study and experience allow you to identify the meteorites”. “We have two types of meteorites in Chile, which I use in my jewelry, one is Mesosiderite and the other, Pallasite”.

Kain has become a taboo designer of New York fashion: “I’ve always been fascinated with meteorites; it intrigues me what they had to experience as particles that have crossed the universe and the mechanisms through which they have ended up here in our planet, as the end of their journey”, explains the designer, who also says:” I can’t imagine a more fascinating stone to use in jewelry, in fact, the second ring I designed in my life was made of meteorite“. “I never look for specific characteristics in a meteorite, I simply choose the ones I like and work with them”

Despite all that, the most beautiful gem is still the diamond, for its preciousness and rarity. However, meteorites circulate on the market as a valuable mineral, not only for their particularity, but because they’re extremely rare, and once they’re found, you never know if they will possibly be used in jewelry.