Not every lady can afford luxurious jewelry with natural stones. And everyone wants to buy something beautiful. To this end, scientists have derived artificial stones from natural substances. With the help of nanotechnology, a crystal was created. According to its external data, it is not inferior to many natural stones. To date, various colors are produced.
History of occurrence
Many are interested in glass (stone). What is it? More has been heard about art cubic zirconias, and information about sitalls is not so widespread. Sittall gemstone is a glass-crystalline material. Abroad, the technology of its manufacture was developed earlier (in 1957). It belongs to the American Donald Stukey. The Dow Corning firm involved in the production of these crystals was given the name Pyrokeram.
In the Soviet Union, Isaac Kitaygorodsky was engaged in the development of sitalls. And many other Russian scientists have contributed to the development of crystal technology. So, sitall (stone) - what is it, where did such a name come from? An unusual word was formed from two chemical elements that make up this crystal. From sicilium (silicon) they took the syllable "si", from aluminum - the syllable "al", and the result was sitall. It is very similar in composition to volcanic rock and belongs to high-temperature silicate glass.
Characteristics and properties of the crystal
In its properties, cubic zirconia resembles a diamond, but the glass was copied under sapphires and emeralds. It is made of glass, but there are some distinguishing features between them. The formula used to create this crystal is SiO 2 , it is very similar to rock crystal. It is the latter that is the raw material for quartz glass. What does a glass (stone) look like? Photos of this artificial crystal can be seen in the images in the article. It is quite solid and non-porous. How reliable is a stone ceramic? The properties of this crystal depend on how complex it is. And it consists of the smallest crystals, therefore it is very dense, equated to steel. By its hardness, only a diamond surpasses it. The stone conducts heat well, it is impossible to melt it at home. This was achieved thanks to lithium, aluminum and mineral raw materials, which are introduced into the composition.
The glass is beautifully poured, it is almost transparent, resistant to various chemical reactions. How to connect such a large number of crystals so that pores do not form between them?
Manufacturing process
Glass has a natural property to crystallize over time. It was he who was taken as the basis by scientists when creating the glass. The manufacturing process of this material resembles glass ceramics. To start, prepare the raw materials - the mixture. It may include several nucleators (components for clarification). There are several billions of tiny crystals per cubic millimeter.
Then such a charge is necessarily amenable to melting. First, the center of the stone crystallizes, then the temperature is increased until new aggregates grow around it.
After that, the stone lends itself to cooling. That's how they get sitall. Stone for jewelry purposes is used very widely. The technology for making glass was used when pouring ruby glass for Kremlin stars in Moscow.
How to use ceramic
In what other areas besides jewelry making is this artificial stone used? The properties of the glass can be regulated by adding certain elements to its composition, for example, perlite, dolomite, copper, silver. Therefore, the crystal is widely used in mechanical engineering. It is an excellent electrical insulator, transparent enough, suitable for the manufacture of lenses, mirrors, light filters.
It serves as an excellent material for coating metal parts. With such protection, the metal does not rust and has a beautiful appearance. Glass-coated pipes are used in the oil refining industry.
A stone with elements of aluminum and lithium is used in dentistry (for the manufacture of fillings).
Types of Artificial Crystal
The most common use was given to this artificial stone in jewelry. There are several types of sitalls. Ametrine, consisting of two colors and resembling amethyst, is very popular. Sultanite, capable of changing color, is no less popular.
A lot of fashionistas are interested in sitall (stone). What is it, today is known to many women. Silver and gold jewelry in our time can not be imagined without synthetic stones. Sitall "London" - a stone resembling a gray-blue topaz with a smoky hue. This nanocrystal combines very well with alloys of gold and silver. If the girl has fair skin and light blue eyes, then the metal "London" is ideal for her.
It is also worth listing the following types of sitalls: citrine madeira, tourmaline, tanzanite, pink marquise, garnet trillion, etc.
Demand in the jewelry market
We found out, glass (stone) - what is it. The synthetic mineral is in no way inferior in its characteristics to sapphire, blue topaz, emerald. It has a very even color and good transparency. The glass also has a very important advantage - it tolerates high temperatures. This allows you to use it in jewelry that is made by low tide. The crystals are placed in molds and metal is added thereto, heated to 1000 degrees. Cubic zirconias cannot withstand such a high temperature: they either become deformed or fade. But the sitalls do an excellent job of such a test, so the cubic zirconias have a serious competitor. Products with a nanocrystal are very sophisticated and relatively inexpensive.
The superiority of synthetic stones
Around synthetic stones, there is much debate about their advantages and disadvantages. Jewelry artificial crystals are absolute analogues of natural minerals, but created in the laboratory. Real stones grow in the natural environment, and synthetic ones are grown artificially. They can be compared with the flowers that are looked after in the greenhouse. There they are large, bright, blooming for a long time. So are the stones: in the laboratory you can experiment with color, composition, strength. Artificially grown crystals are in no way inferior to natural ones, in some cases even surpass them. One of the most prominent representatives is the ceramic.
The synthetic developments of scientists also include Swarovski stones, sapphire crystal, cubic zirconias. They are used as analogues of various rare stones. Earrings, bracelets, rings using these bright crystals greatly diversified the assortment of jewelry. Any woman will be glad to decorate with insets from sitalla!