Fordite Pendant - 925 Silver Necklace, Detroit City Agate, Motor City Collectible Americana, buying American Jewellery, FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING

THESE PENDANTS
This unique Fordite 'gem' is set in a 925 sterling silver fancy setting and displays intricate banding and bright, cheerful colours. Pendant measures roughly 25x12x5mm, including bail. Comes with a complimentary 18" sterling silver link chain. Presented in a quality Two Skies presentation box, ready for gifting.

FORDITE
A unique American material, Fordite – also known as Motor Agate – is not in fact a colourful gemstone, but the byproduct of a now extinct manufacturing process. The founding of the Ford Motor Company in 1903 once gave Detroit the status of the automotive capital of the world – the city is still known as 'Motor City' today, despite the sad decline of the industry there. Prior to the 1980's cars were spray-painted by hand, and the oversprayed paint, dripping off the panels, gradually began to build up in layers. These 'run off' layers were baked many times over in the ovens that the car bodies went into during the curing process. Eventually these built up layers of excess paint had gotten so thick they had become an obstructive nuisance, and would need to be removed – the story goes that some savvy auto workers with an eye for beauty recognised that this remarkable material - beautifully patterned like psychedelic agate - was worth salvaging and recycling. They were right! It wasn't long before 'gem hunters' started showing up to factories, helpfully offering to remove the paint in order to craft unique and highly desirable jewellery items – now a precious piece of Michigan's history. Due to modern painting methods taking over, the Fordite 'mines' are exhausted as the material is no longer being created, so get some whilst you still can!

STERLING SILVER (925%)
Why do silversmiths use 925%? Measured in parts per thousand, pure silver (999%) is too soft so silversmiths mix it with other metals to make it it harder. The purer the metal, the higher the polish, but it is a lot softer (thus less durable). The harder the metal is, the more hard wearing the jewellery is, but it will also tarnish easier as it has less silver content. Therefore, the silver industry set a standard percentage content for fine silver (925); what we know as "sterling silver". At Two Skies our silversmiths use 925 (sterling) silver for ring shafts and moving parts, and a very high 950% on our stones settings, which enables us to get a strong jewellery item with a beautiful and secure stone setting, without any gluing. Each piece of our jewellery is hand stamped with our Two Skies Hallmark alongside the recognised industry 925 Hallmark.

MORE ABOUT THE TWO SKIES STORY
"Collected with Conscience, Crafted with Love.."
No adventure is too crazy, no risk is too great, no journey too extreme, when Adam buying McIntosh sets about sourcing his rare and unusual gems. Born in Scotland and raised in Papua New Guinea, he is renowned for his environmentally sound and ethically created designs. The chief of the Mi'kmaq tribe named Adam 'Two Skies' on one of his many expeditions to places ranging from the dark jungle of the Amazon to the tropical reefs of Fiji. Each piece of his sustainably sourced jewellery comes with its own fascinating story, and can be traced from origin to creation.

FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING
Our free worldwide shipping includes free standard shipping to all international customers (5-20 working days depending which world zone applies to your country) and Royal Mail delivery within the UK (2-5 working days). Please note that our standard shipping is an untracked service. If you would like a shipping upgrade, including Signed For delivery in the UK or a tracked service, these are available at the checkout process. Orders are processed twice a week. Please also be aware that buyers are responsible for any customs and import taxes/VAT disbursement that may apply - these charges are outwith our control and we are unable to provide information on the charges which may or may not be applied. Please see our Shop Policy section for more information.

SHOP WITH CONFIDENCE
If you're not 100% happy with your purchase, simply contact us to arrange a free return and a replacement or refund.

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