Meet the meteorite hunter who crafts space debris - into jewellery
A man who hunts for discarded material from comets has made a business making the space debris - into jewelry. Emil Davidsson, 31, from Buenos Aires, Argentina, has made a name for himself with his skills in hunting meteorites. Emil, who resides in Bali, Indonesia, documents online his skills in gathering space debris from across the world. But he doesn't stop there - after collecting the meteorites he crafts the rocks into jewelry and sells his creations online. Emil creates jewelry from small fragments and his pendants start at €100. He also makes watches with prices starting at €395 and rings at €130. Emil has been hunting for meteorites for a decade and says they "are extremely rare and difficult to find." He has been on serious expeditions to the Arctic Circle and the Atacama Desert - the driest place on Earth - to find meteorites. Emil said: "I started hunting for meteorites in 2013. "Every year, I would go on expeditions lasting four to five months above the Arctic Circle. "Three years ago, I met my partner, Alexandra Levchenkova, and together we started expanding our search areas. "We went to places like the Atacama Desert, the driest place on Earth, hunting for meteorites at altitudes of 3500 meters above sea level. "We would camp there for seven to 10 days without hot water or any other facilities, an extremely wild place." Emil uses a special metal detector that has pulse indicators that emit high-amperage signals, creating electromagnetic fields around the detector. When there is a metal object "the field collapses" creating a spike in voltage that is represented as sound. If the meteorite is not on the surface he has to dig a hole by hand, which can sometimes be three-metres-deep. Once retrieved by Emil, the space debris will be turned into pendants and other accessories. Emil said: "Each type of meteorite requires a different process since all meteorites are unique. "For example, iron meteorites, are composed of 92-99% iron. "After we cut them into slices, we need to stabilize them using various methods because if we don't do that they tend to rust. "Additionally, we use nitric acid to reveal the meteorite's distinctive structure known as the Widmanstätten pattern. "This pattern is one of the most remarkable features of certain meteorites. "It forms through the slow cooling of molten metal over millions of years resulting in the formation of exquisite crystalline 3D patterns. "This unique crystallization process cannot be replicated on Earth as it requires extreme outer space conditions over millions of years." According to Emil, Meteorite jewelry is becoming more and more popular and there is a huge demand for the unique products. Emil said: "Meteorites are becoming more popular each year and the demand is increasing. "However, the supply is diminishing annually making their prices rise consistently." For Emil the diminishing supply makes the space rocks all the more special. He said: "I believe it's crucial to emphasize how unique and meaningful meteorites are compared to any other material on Earth. "These meteorites originated as remnants from the formation of our solar system, making them older than our planet itself. "By holding a meteorite in your hand, you are touching the oldest material you could ever come into contact with. "These meteorites come from the Asteroid Belt located between Mars and Jupiter. "Not only are they older than Earth, but they have also travelled millions of kilometres through the vacuum of space. "Eventually, due to chance and the gravitational pull of Earth, they fell randomly in remote locations. "After thousands of years, we find them with our metal detectors and transform them into unique one-of-a-kind jewelry, truly out of this world."
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