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What
Are Our Products Made Of?
Alabastrite
Alabastrite is our product
line name for polyresin items.
Alabastrite is a stone-based
material which can be
intricately molded producing
great detail, and will allow
paint to adhere. These items may
be cleaned by dusting, however,
they should not be washed with
water as they are painted with
water soluble paints.
Bone China
White clay
with bone ash added. Bone ash
content must be at least 25% by
U. S. guidelines. Fired at 1800
degrees. The translucent
material is finished with a
glaze or underglaze (matte).
Lighter, stronger, more
expensive than porcelain.
Porcelain
Fine
ground white clay, molded and
fired in an oven for eight hours
at 1200 degrees. Finished with a
glazed, underglazed, or "bisque"
finish. Glazing produces a high
gloss; underglaze produces a
matte finish. Bisque is a matte
finish without glaze. After
finishing, the item is "cooked"
for six hours at 800 degrees.
Jade
Porcelain
Jade
porcelain is a type of porcelain
made with a finer clay. Usually
no glaze or only a colorless
glaze will be applied at the
final firing to show off the
very smooth surface and to
preserve the translucency.
Example: 27112. Jade Porcelain
is used for night lights because
of its high degree of
translucency when lit.
Stoneware
White clay
with fine ground stone. Working
with stoneware demands great
expertise, and is in fact
becoming a lost art. Stoneware
is safe to use in microwave and
conventional ovens.
Patchwork Items
Unique
fabric or paper prints are
applied to the surface of
porcelain, dolomite or polyresin
items. After application, 12
layers of lacquer are added and
the item is hand polished to a
high gloss between each layer.
Cubic
Zircon
The most
successful simulated diamond.
Properties such as refraction,
hardness, and specific gravity
are remarkably similar to
diamonds. Example: 27432. Cubic
zirconia are very hard to
distinguish from diamonds;
sometimes a jewelers loop will
be needed to see the difference.
Diamond
Extremely
hard, highly refractive
colorless or white crystalline
of carbon. Diamonds, like all
gemstones, are judged in terms
of Carats, or weight (different
from Karats, as in gold purity).
Gold
The
ultimate precious metal.
Virtually indestructible,
amazingly malleable, doesn't
rust or tarnish. Graded by
purity; in the U.S. a scale of
24 is used, so 24 Karats (24K)
is 100% pure. 18K is 18 parts
gold and 6 parts alloy (other
metals), and so on. 10K is the
legal minimum for Karat-graded
gold. The word
"Plumb"
indicates the exact purity of
the piece.
Gemstones
Rubies,
sapphires, emeralds and
amethysts, often treasured as
birthstones, fall under the
category of gemstones.
(Birthstones are listed in the
back of your WOP catalog.)
Gemstones are priced and graded
by Carat weight.
Pearl
A smooth,
lustrous, variously-colored
deposit formed around a grain of
sand in the shell of a certain
mollusk. Pearls may be formed
naturally or "cultured" through
an artificial implanting
process.
Sterling
Silver
To qualify
as "sterling" a given piece must
be composed of a least 92.5%
pure silver.
Hong Tze
To closely
emulate a special stone found in
China which is known for its
deep red color, these items are
created using an alabastrite
polyresin. Hong Tze pieces are
highly polished, further
bringing out the intense, deep
red color.
Frosted
Acrylic
Acrylic
items are given the French Lilac
process, (used on glass), to
achieve the distinctive frosted
look. Example: 27205. The drama
of frosted glass without the
weight.
Gypsum
Gypsum is
a white mineral which is usually
used to make Plaster of Paris.
Dolomite
A
magnesia-rich, sedimentary rock
resembling limestone, dolomite
is either gray, pink or white in
color.
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