monks gold?

i have an item of jewelry, a bolo tie to be exact. when it was given to me i
was told it was made from a secret formula known only to Italian monks.

it looks kinda like gold sparkles embedded in a plastic like material.

now i suddenly got curious about this item that i have had these many years,
but alas, meta-search and google-groups search has come up empty for me.

anyone have any leads as to where i might find out about this?

On Sat, 15 Jan 2005 01:08:19 -0800, in ?? "TimPerry"
wrote:

i have an item of jewelry, a bolo tie to be exact. when it was given to me i
was told it was made from a secret formula known only to Italian monks.

it looks kinda like gold sparkles embedded in a plastic like material.

now i suddenly got curious about this item that i have had these many years,
but alas, meta-search and google-groups search has come up empty for me.

anyone have any leads as to where i might find out about this?



What you've described sounds like "goldstone". That is a glass product containing not
gold, but small copper crystals. So far as the legends go, it was indeed developed,
just when I don't know, in an italian monestary (recall that Italy had and still has, a
long traditon in glass blowing and glass working), the monks figuring out how to get
copper salts dissolved in the glass, to precipitate out copper crystals, thus giving the
spangles. In it's most common form, it's brownish / coppery color, as you've described,
but variations also are seen where the glass in which the copper crystals are suspended,
is itself colored something else. For some time, the supposed origin of the material in
a religious order, and the fact that the monks supported their order through sales of
the stuff or items made thereof, results in a tradition continued today where we often
see goldstone used for crosses, various religious medalions, and the like, though these
days, it's mainstream jewelry uses are more common, such as in the bolo you've got.
While the original recipe was from Italy, the secret's been "out" for quite some time
now, and so far as I know, it's made in a number of locations around the world.
Popular, pretty, and cheap.

For more info via Google, the term to search for is "goldstone"

cheers

Peter Rowe