Goldstone
In my last post, I wrote about aventurine which is a naturally-occurring rock composed of amorphous quartz and a bit of fuschite. It also contains a small amount of mica that makes it sparkle under light.
There is a man-made "gem" that simulates aventurine, but in different colors. It is known as goldstone (although some people call it "aventurine glass"). Legend says that goldstone was originally created by accident in Italy so was called: avventurina (from the Italian "avventura" or "by chance"). It is also suggested that only after this "aventurine glass" was invented that it lent its name to the natural stone at a later time, which is opposite from the way things usually work. [2]
Even though goldstone is a man-made material, it is still beautiful and quite fascinating to the eye! It's like holding an entire galaxy of stars in the palm of one's hand! So, how are these glittery little 'stars' formed...?
Copper oxide is added to molten glass, which is then heated to temperatures of around 2255°F (1235°C) so that the copper oxide melts completely. Then the mixture is cooled slowly and in an environment that is reduced of oxygen, this causing the copper crystallize within the glass mixture. Long, slow cooling times result in more crystals being formed. Each of the little 'sparkles' in the goldstone is an individual octahedral-shaped crystal of pure copper. In geometry, an octahedron is an eight-sided solid with each of the eight faces shaped like a triangle. If one uses a microscope, the triangular faces of the copper crystals can be seen. A photo of such can be seen on the geology.com website for anyone interested.
One of the most astounding things to me is this little tidbit:
The glass of reddish brown goldstone is colorless. Its reddish brown appearance is caused by reflections from the included copper crystals. [source]
Yet, when holding the goldstone in the hand and looking closely at it, it certainly appears to be a reddish-brown ball with golden flecks in it, not a clear piece of glass with a "color" that is mere illusion caused by reflections!
The other side (what I consider to be the "back" side) of the ball has some sparkles, too, but they are smaller and there is a bright line ("cats eye") chatoyancy that outshines the sparkles as seen in the above photo. I'm not sure what causes it, but I have seen it in other pieces of goldstone, too. Perhaps it is where a greater amount of the copper crystals have collected?
Cobalt, manganese, or chromium can be added in place of copper, resulting in blue, purple, or green goldstone. I've never seen the purple or green ones, just read about them. But the blue goldstone is gorgeous and I've held a piece of it a time or two — it is a beautiful, deep-indigo blue like the night sky with glittering stars. Even though my piece is reddish-brown instead of indigo-blue, it still feels like I am holding the Milky Way in the palm of my hand. 😁
SOURCES
1 Geology.com: Goldstone
2 Wikipedia: Goldstone
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19-Jun-2020
That looks sparkling...
I learned all kinds of new stuff from this post. Thanks @thekittygirl.
Yeah you are right, it definitely looks like you are having the whole galaxy at the palm of you hand. This is the first time I am hearing or seeing a goldstone but I will love to have one of those goldstone balls. Not forgetting you said there are other colours also, so it's best I see how others look like to know which I love the most.
Thanks for sharing 🤗
It’s beautiful!!
I love it! Your collection of stones must be extensive, sis @thekittygirl! How do you store them.. I suppose, like silver and gold, in treasure chests! Must be heavy too, lol!
I love reading your articles about stones. Stones are really so interesting, especially the precious ones that you have. Even regular garden stones fascinate me. I recall many hours in the beach just looking for stones, and just like to pick them up. Recently, I painted several stones to put in my garden!
Have a beautiful weekend, sweet sis @thekittygirl, and take care 🥰🌺🤙
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Too big for earrings lol! What am I thinking?
Beautiful 💕
It is really beautiful, a very unusual color. Thanks for the information, I have never heard of this before.
This is really beautiful, it reminds me to the Golden Snitch on the Harry Potter's movies haha! it only left the wings and that's it!
I really enjoy it your post by knowing a new thing on my life, the photos are in a great definition so we can clearly view every aspect that you describes us about the stone, thank you for this awesome post!
Looks beautiful
I'm sure the other colors are amazing too
I mean purple? 😍 and blue 😱 with a galaxy on the surface... waw !
It looks so cool! I love sparkly stuff😍
@thekittygirl first of all very nice article.you Remind of the dragon ball movie. And the nine balls he was looking for it.