What is an ammolite gemstone? What are some of its physical and metaphysical properties?

Ammolite is in fact a type of organic gemstone, meaning that it is actually the mineralized remains of a prehistoric creature, in this case an ammonite. The ammonite creature is in fact the predecessor of the nautilus and it is estimated that it swam the oceans as far back as 65 to 70 million years ago. It was only recently in 1981 that the International Colored Gemstone Commission (ICGC) officially recognized the ammolite organic gemstone as being the rarest gemstone in the world. This is due to the fact that although fossilized ammonites could be found practically on every continent throughout the globe, the colorful iridescent gem quality ammolite could only be found in one specific area in the entire world: southern Alberta, Canada. Even out of the entire ammolite found in Alberta, only 5% actually qualify as yielding gemstone material. Therefore, you could really get a sense of just how rare these organic gemstones really are. Ammolites are stunning in terms of appearance as they could combine several exquisite incandescent-like colors in one segment. They are therefore divided into four categories according to their color and brilliance: "Standard", "A", "A+" and "AA". Standard ammolites are those that exhibit only one distinctive color while AA ammolites exhibit three or more brilliant and sharp colors. This gemstone is extremely delicate in terms of durability, as it is valued at only 3.5 on the Mohs scale of hardness. In order to be used for jewelry purposes, ammolites are often used as triplets, i.e. 'sandwiched' between a dark gray shale layer at the bottom and a clear protective coat of quartz on the top. This could easily increase the hardness of the overall gemstone up to a scale of 8.5 on the Mohs scale, making it much less brittle for jewelry.

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Let me start by saying that there is a clear distinction between an Ammonite and an Ammolite that a lot of people are not even aware of. The first is a prehistoric creature while the latter is the prized gem. While ammolite derives its name from the ammonite creature, the name ammonite actually originates from the ancient Egyptian god Ammon. He was depicted as a ram with twisted spiral horns, that are somewhat reminiscent of an ammonite spiraled shell. Ammolite was first discovered by the Native Indians who made use of these gemstones to ward off evil spirits during their spiritual ceremonies. However, they used to call this gemstone an Inskim or a Buffalo Stone and they used to believe that a woman who would find an ammolite would bring the greatest of luck to her tribe. In Feng Shui, it is believed that the vivid colors found in the ammonite gemstone portray the harmonious balance between fire, earth, metal, water and wood, and therefore ammolite actually absorbs the knowledge of all corners of the universe. The Feng Shui followers believe that ammolite has the ability to detoxify the body, but it is said that even those who do not practice Feng Shui would gain from the benefits of the gemstone because its effects are so powerful. Ammolite is also believed to have healing powers and medicinal properties. In terms of jewelry, the ammolite gemstone could be incorporated into all kinds of jewelry styles which could complement any skin tone. Due to the gemstone's extreme rarity (it is in fact the rarest gemstone in the world), it makes for a great investment. In the past five years alone the price for an ammolite gemstone has sharply risen by 40%. Therefore, in sharp contrast to diamonds, the ammolite gemstone could actually retain their value (or most probably make a profit) when you go to resell them at a later date.

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