Aqua aura
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Aqua aura is a synthetic crystal. It is laboratory created from quartz crystals and gold vapor. The quartz is heated to 1600 Fahrenheit in a vacuum, and then gold vapor is added to the chamber. The gold atoms fuse to the crystal's surface, which gives the crystal an iridescent metallic sheen. The process was awarded the United States Patent No. 6997014 on Feb 14, 2006. The process was invented by Steven F. Starcke, Ronald H. Kearnes and Keven E. Bennet.
The patent says "The invention provides a decorative object comprising a transparent or translucent substrate having a body and at least one surface bearing a thin film coating. The coating imparts in the substrate a body color that appears substantially constant at different angles of observation. This body color is imparted in the substrate at least in part by absorption of visible radiation that is transmitted through said coating. The coating includes a high absorption layer comprising film that is highly absorptive of visible radiation. Also provided are methods of coating gems and other decorative objects, as well as methods of heat treating coated gems and other decorative objects."
Aqua aura is very popular in jewelery, because it is not very expensive and fairly easy to acquire. It can be cut and smoothed down into beads and balls for use in smaller jewelry, like earrings or bracelets. Sometimes the whole quartz crystal is used in pendants and other larger jewelery. Aqua aura is sometimes used in crystal healing. Some people believe that wearing Aqua aura relieves stress and sooths anger.
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