Are you a fan of sparkly things? Do your eyes light up when you see something brand new and shiny in a shop window? Are sequins, shimmery make-up and glittery shoes your accessories of choice when you’re getting ready for a night out?
Lemon Sherbet Crystal Jaw Clip – Available at Tegen Accessories.
Well you’re not alone. It appears most of the human race are fascinated by sparkly things. Ever wonder why this is? Well I’ve done a bit of research and it appears something it dates back to primitive times when finding water would have been very important to our survival. Therefore we would always be on the look out for something sparkly in the hope it would be a much needed source of clean water. Other’s say it’s a good way to attract a mate as sparkles are very eye catching and it’s a good way to demonstrate wealth and your position of power in any kind of social hierarchy. Either way, sparkly things have always been used in our society for many different things and our love of them has not dwindled.
Women in particular seem to continue the eye catching tradition of sparkles by accessorising with different pieces of jewellery and hair accessories featuring diamonds, Swarovski crystals, semi precious stones and numerous variations of these.
Scarlett Johansson At The 63rd Venice Film Festival.
Metastable Allotropes of carbon or Diamonds as they are more affectionately known certainly are forever and also a girl’s best friend being as they have the highest hardness and thermal conductivity of any bulk material. They also have a high optical dispersion. Combine these two facts with a scientific diamond cutting process and your result is a very long lasting, durable, very sparkly, very beautiful stone ready to be worn in a necklace, ring or hair accessory.
Now as you know, diamonds can be very expensive and nowadays there’s added issues with some of the more politically unstable central African and west African countries having control of their diamond mines taken over by revolutionary groups. These groups use the proceeds from diamond sales to finance their operations. Diamonds sold through this process are known as conflict diamonds or blood diamonds.
Well luckily for us in 1892 Daniel Swarovski patented an electric cutting machine that facilitated the production of crystal glass. The Swarovski Company now based in Austria produces crystals that have a Mohs hardness of between 6-7 which is harder than standard glass. The lead content in the crystal increases the refraction index of the glass from 1.5 to 1.7 to give the faceted face a more sparkly appearance. These crystals can also be produced in different colours, one of the most popular being AB (Arora Borealis)
Myself modelling a Crystal Large Butterfly Barrette – Available at Tegen Accessories.
These super sparkly, conflict-free, affordable, Swarovski crystals feature in a lot of our Crystal pieces at Tegen Accessories. Have a look at our online shop or to really get a feel for just how sparkly these pieces are, pop into our Brighton shop to try some on. Whether you’re wanting to catch someone’s eye or just make a statement, you will not be disappointed with our collection of beautiful sparkly things. All Magpies welcome...
