Natural Moldavite | 1.36g | Nesmen Les

A highly sculptural 1.36g natural Moldavite specimen from Nesmen Les, Czech Republic, featuring a dramatic irregular form, jagged edges and the pronounced natural etching for which this locality is especially prized.

This specimen has a thin, elongated and asymmetrical profile, with numerous projecting points and deeply irregular edges. Its surface is richly developed with sharp ridges, branching grooves, pits, folds and deep etched channels, creating an almost leaf-like or naturally weathered appearance. The complex relief gives the stone considerable visual character despite its relatively light weight.

Its colour ranges from olive green to deep forest green, with noticeable variations across the specimen. The thinner edges and raised sections appear lighter and more translucent, while thicker central portions take on a much darker green appearance. When held against a light source, more of the underlying green becomes visible as light passes through the natural glass.

The stone's dramatic texture also creates an interesting optical effect. Its countless ridges, depressions and angled surfaces cause incoming light to reflect, refract and scatter in different directions. Raised areas catch bright highlights, while deeper recesses remain shadowed, making the surface appear even more three-dimensional as the specimen is turned.

The irregular, jagged outline is an especially attractive feature of this piece. Rather than a simple rounded form, it has an almost sculptural silhouette with several natural projections, giving it a distinctive appearance from every viewing angle. The specimen remains completely natural and unpolished, preserving its original surface character.

Nesmen Les — les meaning “forest” in Czech — is one of the most prized Moldavite localities, producing remarkable specimens comparable with those from Besednice Jezkovna and Maly Chlum. Although its deposits are not completely depleted, they are difficult to mine, and relatively few quality stones emerge from this sought-after locality. Nesmen Les is particularly renowned for specimens displaying spectacular natural etching and complex surface sculpting.

At 1.36 grams, this is an especially characterful Nesmen Les specimen, combining dramatic jagged sculpting, deep natural etching and beautiful variations in green translucency.

What is Moldavite & where is it from?

Moldavite is a rare tektite or meteoric glass, caused by an asteroid impact 15 million years ago. The intense, 10,000°C+ temperatures of the strike vapourised the asteroid, target rock and sand, flinging the molten substance high into the atmosphere.

From the impact zone in Germany some 300km away, it landed back to earth in what is now the Czech Republic and as it flew, it cooled and solidified into translucent green, glass-like droplets of various shapes and sizes.

It is said that only 1% of what had originally fallen is still intact to this day and the estimates of the total amount of Moldavite remaining is under 300 tonnes. In comparison with gold or diamonds, this makes Moldavite 1000x rarer.

99% of all Moldavite is found in a small area in the southern part of the Czech Republic. It can be found on the surface but the highly prized, well-preserved specimens are found up to 6 metres underground.

Moldavite NZ

Moldavite NZ is a small family business and collectors hub based in New Zealand. We are the only exclusive Moldavite dealer in the Southern Hemisphere. We source all of our Moldavite directly through our family and trusted contacts in the Czech Republic. All of our Moldavite and jewellery is guaranteed for authenticity by a 100% money-back guarantee.