Amazing under your feet, or What is the "Detroit agate"

Amazing not just a number — it's often underfoot and even in the trash. You just need wide open eyes and attentively to look. What you see is not a rare mineral and even Murano glass, and General waste automotive manufacturing, and more specifically, painting. Connoisseurs call it "Detroit agate" or "forget" as the most impressive deposits of this valuable material is located in "the automotive capital of the USA", the city of Detroit.

Very similar to natural agate stones — it's only hundreds sintered into a unified whole layers of automotive paint. These "gems" gradually accumulate on the walls and equipment of paint shops of the automobile, until, until you need a General cleaning. Then they scraped, scraped and chip, gather and just bring to the dump.

It is difficult to say who first drew attention to the aesthetic side of the dried paint. It is precisely known that in 70-ies were the craftsmen who made "Detroit agate" crafts and even successfully sold. But do not rush to paint the camera for the valuable ornamental material, as you may be disappointed.

Beautiful "forget" to find is not easy. 99% of the "gems" are a sad, striped stones, often with inclusions of various small and big garbage.

Real precious stones will have to look for a long time — they are growing in hard to reach places on surfaces of complex configuration, such as painting and drying chambers car quite a bit.

Experts know about "fordite" everything and can be called the age of the material by color and shade. If "Agatha" is dominated by layers of black, white, grey and Burgundy colors, then most likely, it is 50 years. In the 60s the fashion includes bright enamel adds a "fordite" psychedelic colors. The material of the 80s there is often a "metallic" which was at the height of automotive fashion for more than a decade.

Distinguish "rock" and place of origin. It is easy to guess that to find the "forget" is not only in Detroit, but in General any sufficiently old automobile plant. There are differences in color.

High demand, for example, enjoys the jewelers "korveta" derived from painting workshops, where he painted the body of the Chevrolet Corvette. Paint for these expensive luxury cars were of the highest quality and all as the selection of bright colors.

The density of "Detroit agate" close to the amber is lightweight and quite easy to process material. It is easily cut and drilled, but it also just gives the fibers and cracks. Therefore, the work with the "Forticom" requires special care and a certain level of skills.

Also the disadvantages of the articles of caked paint should include their poor scratch resistance and a tendency to fade under the action of ultraviolet radiation.

Unfortunately, the stocks of "fordite" exhaustible. Modern coating techniques can reduce the likelihood of sagging. Is complicated by the fact that most of the plants today it is prohibited to take even the trash. Due to this, some material is already close in price to the present Agatha.

The demand for "Detroit agate" is quite high. Use it not only home craftsmen and artists, but also large companies. In 2019 watch brand TAG Heuer has released a 10 chronometer TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 5 with the dials select the "fordite". The price each clock amounted to $ 5,500 (nearly 380 thousand).