Looking for a truly unique Mother’s Day gift? How about ammolite, officially named a gemstone only since 1981. Ammolite gemstones are the trade name given to the iridescent, nacreous, opal-like layer of the shell of the prehistoric marine mollusks called ammonites. The ammonites became extinct 65 million years ago. What’s left behind is this beautiful fossil which we make into incredibly vivid jewelry that looks like stained glass in a rainbow of colors. While most ammolite is green and red, pieces with blue are even more valuable.

Energy Properties
Ammolite is said to awaken positive energy. The stones are also known as “gems of enlightenment.” According to some sources, Feng shui masters reportedly say the stone “absorbed a significant portion of positive cosmic energy from the earth and universe” and that ammolites “enhance the flow of Qi (pronounced “chi”) throughout the body thus lowering our toxicity levels and promoting over all well-being.” In the Far East, ammolite is believed to help one gain wealth and prosperity.

Origin
To understand this unique organic gemstone, you have to go back around 70 million years ago to a body of water called the Western Interior Seaway that connected what is now the Arctic Ocean with the Gulf of Mexico. Among the forms of life there were ammonites, (yes, ammonite, with an “n”) the extinct group of marine invertebrates with tightly coiled shells that fell to the bottom of the seaway.  All the largest commercial producer of today’s ammolite (the trade name applied to the ammonite shell) come from a small area in Alberta, Canada where these fossils are found and mined.