Sequim rock shop reports theft
Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News
Mike Pimentel, owner of Eclipse Minerals in Sequim, shines a penlight through a sample of moldavite similar to a batch of the rare stone that was taken from his shop earlier this week.
By Arwyn Rice
Peninsula Daily News
Print This |
Email This
Recent Headlines
FOUR DAYS OF arts and music comes to Port Angeles — buy your tickets now! (And . . . FREE pre-festival show Thursday) -- 5/19/13 -04:43 PM
IT'S OUT TODAY: North Olympic Peninsula's biggest and best visitor guide -- 5/19/13 -12:47 PM
10 to receive Jefferson County Heart of Service award Tuesday -- 5/18/13 -11:34 PM
State Patrol report blames motorcyclist killed during chase -- 5/19/13 -06:30 PM
Poets celebrate life, birth of author Raymond Carver tonight -- 5/19/13 -06:32 PM
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.
________
Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
Last modified: July 12. 2012 5:39PM
To report a comment, email moderator@peninsuladailynews.com and refer to the article and offending comment, or click here: REPORT ABUSE.
Peninsuladailynews.com comments are subject to the Peninsuladailynews.com User Policy.