SEQUIM — A shoplifter walked away with an estimated $6,000 to $8,000 worth of a mineral often called “space glass,” a Sequim rock shop owner said.
Two trays of moldavite weighing about 1,000 grams and a piece of moldavite jewelry with a quarter-carat canary diamond were taken at about 2 p.m. Wednesday from Eclipse Minerals at 645 W. Washington St., said owner Mike Pimentel.
There were no witnesses to the theft, said Sgt. Ken Almberg of the Sequim Police Department.
Pimentel said he discovered the missing trays of the translucent-green natural glass when he tried to return stones that customers had found on the floor to their place.
“They must have been in a real hurry because I was still in the store,” said Pimentel, who had been in the back of the store earlier.
Collectors say moldavite is thought to have been formed in massively high temperatures and pressures by a meteorite strike 15 million years ago, and cooled into the stones’ final shape while still in the air.
It is found in a small region in Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic.
“I collected these myself in Czechoslovakia and purchased some from collectors,” Pimentel said.
Some of the stones were faceted, and there were museum pieces among the missing stones, he said.
Museum-quality moldavite pieces often have a fern-like translucent appearance.
Unique stone
One of the stones is unique and notable, with an air bubble visible inside, Pimentel said.
The person who took the stones may have known something about gemology — to know that the green glass-like stone is valuable — or they have no idea what they have, he said.
Moldavite is well-known to those in gem and mineral societies and among folk art jewelers, but it is not well-known outside of those groups, he added.
Pimentel said he has contacted dealers and pawn shops in the region to alert them to the theft of the unusual stones.
He is offering a reward for the return of the moldavite collection.
He said he has no insurance on the rocks.
Anyone with knowledge of the stones or who took them is asked to phone the Sequim Police Department at 360-683-7227.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
