Aventurescence

Aventurescence

In gemology, aventurescence (sometimes called aventurization) is an optical reflectance effect seen in certain gems. The effect amounts to a metallic glitter, arising from minute, preferentially oriented mineral platelets within the material. These platelets are so numerous that they also influence the material's body colour. In aventurine quartz (actually a type of quartzite) chrome-bearing fuchsite makes for a green stone, and various iron oxides make for a red stone.

The words "aventurine" and "aventurescence" derive from the Italian "a ventura," meaning "by chance." This is an allusion to the chance discovery of aventurine glass or goldstone at some point in the 18th century. Goldstone is still manufactured today as an artificial imitation of later discoveries aventurine quartz and aventurine feldspar (sunstone). Goldstone is sometimes tinted blue, creating "bluestone."

ee also

* Optical phenomenon
* Labradorescence

References

* Webster, R. (2000). "Gems: Their sources, descriptions and identification" (5th ed.), p 231. Great Britain: Butterworth-Heinemann.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Lustre (mineralogy) — Lustre (or luster) is a description of the way light interacts with the surface of a crystal, rock, or mineral. The word lustre traces its origins back to the Latin word lux, meaning light , and generally implies radiance, gloss, or brilliance. A …   Wikipedia

  • Optical phenomenon — An optical phenomenon is any observable event that results from the interaction of light and matter. See also list of optical topics and optics. A mirage is an example of an optical phenomenon. Common optical phenomena are often due to the… …   Wikipedia

  • Chalcedony — A cut and polished Chalcedony geode General Category Oxide mineral Chemical formula …   Wikipedia

  • Phenomenon — A phenomenon (from Greek φαινόμενoν , pl. φαινόμενα phenomena ) is any observable occurrence. [ New Oxford American Dictionary (2nd ed.) ] In popular usage, a phenomenon often refers to an extraordinary event. In physics, a phenomenon may be a… …   Wikipedia

  • List of optical topics — Probably some Wikipedia articles on topics in optics are not yet listed on this page. If you cannot find the topic you are interested in on this page, the article may nonetheless exist; you can try to find it using the Search box, or look in and… …   Wikipedia

  • Aventurine — is a form of quartz, characterised by its translucency and the presence of platy mineral inclusions that give a shimmering or glistening effect termed aventurescence . The most common colour of aventurine is green, but it may also be orange,… …   Wikipedia

  • Glass production — Glass is common in everyday life, from glass windows to glass containers. The manufacture of glass for everyday purposes may involve complexity and automation. This article deals with the mass production of glass. Glass container productionGlass… …   Wikipedia

  • Glass coloring and color marking — may be obtained by 1) addition of coloring ions,[1][2] by 2) precipitation of nanometer sized colloides (so called striking glasses[1] such as ruby gold [3] or red selenium ruby ),[2] 3) by colored …   Wikipedia

  • Index of optics articles — Optics is the branch of physics which involves the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it.[1] Optics usually describes the behavior of visible,… …   Wikipedia

  • авантюрисценция — Оптический эффект, имеющий вид мерцающих светящихся точек красного, оранжевого, жёлтого, реже зелёного и голубого цвета. [Англо русский геммологический словарь. Красноярск, КрасБерри. 2007.] Тематики геммология и ювелирное производство EN… …   Справочник технического переводчика

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”