Space-rock prices out of this world in Christie’s auction

A partial slice of the Imilac meteorite, which was discovered at the Atacama Desert in Chile. Courtesy Christie's

Above a Chelyabinsk meteorite, part of the the large Chelyabinsk meteor that that entered Earth's atmosphere over Russia on February 15, 2013. Courtesy Christie's

Above, a Gibeon meteorite called The Scream, which was found in Namibia. Courtesy Christie's

Above, a slice of a lunar meteorite found in the Sahara Desert. Courtesy Christie's

You know you are in a niche market when your inventory has to survive a 260,000kph entry through the earth’s outer atmosphere.

“It’s interesting how you price meteorites,” said James Hyslop yesterday, a specialist at Christie’s London who has organised an April 20 sale of 76 meteorites, pointing to meteorites’ scarcity and the fact that available stock is only occasionally replenished (the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor explosion over Siberia added significantly to available material). “It can really be quite difficult.”

Estimates for the 83 lots range from US$355, for a corner-cut of the Toulon meteorite, to more than $1.1 million for the world’s largest “oriented” meteorite – it has a rare parabola shape – embedded with extraterrestrial gemstones.

“If you were to cut a slice through it, you’d see this iron matrix of olivine crystals, some of which are so high-quality they’re technically gemstones,” Mr Hyslop said.

Historically, meteorites were valued by gram, Mr Hyslop said. The heavier they were, the more expensive. Recently, however, collectors have begun to take both aesthetic and historic aspects into consideration. “The diamond industry uses the four Cs,” said Mr Hyslop. “We use the four Ss: size; shape; science; and story.”

Size is obvious – more meteorite, more money; shape, less so.

“When most meteorites fall to earth, they tumble chaotically,” Mr Hyslop said. “You don’t have them plowing straight down.” On the rare occasion a meteorite does head straight into the earth, its surface heats, then melts, and “you get this wonderful heat shield that has a perfect parabola to it”. Parabola-shaped meteorites, in turn, are much more expensive.

The scientific aspect of meteorite valuation is more complicated, and is often combined with its story.

“Some of the most sought-after ones are the pallasite slices and spheres that have peridot,” Mr Hyslop said, referring to the greenish gemstone. “Others, like the lunar meteorite, are always incredibly popular.” By lunar meteorite, Mr Hyslop is referring to an actual piece of the moon that was blown into outer space by the impact of a much larger meteorite there, floated around for possibly millions of years, and then happened to collide with the earth. There ares even a couple martian meteorites in the sale.

“I still get a childlike excitement when I hold a piece of another world in my hand,” he said.

Seven more lots that offer research notes and ephemera from the archives of a famed 19th century meteorite dealer round out the sale.

Many of the meteorites come from long-standing private collections, while others come from museums that exchanged slivers of their existing meteorites for new “incredibly rare” meteorites, he said.

One lucky collector at the Christie’s sale will be able to buy a piece of the Willamette meteorite, currently on display at New York’s American Museum of Natural History. The estimate is $99,470 to $142,100.

Mr Hyslop said there has been advance interest from around the globe.

“It’s a nice international crowd,” he said. “Not just the traditional meteorite collectors, but from the international art market, too.”

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