Goldstone is a type of glass made with copper or copper salts in the presence of a reducing flame. Under normal oxidative conditions, copper ions meld into the silica to produce transparent bluish-green glass; when the reduced goldstone melt cools, the copper remains in atomic isolation and precipitates into small crystalline clusters. The finished product can take a smooth polish and be carved into beads, cabochons and figurines. In fact goldstone is often mistaken or misrepresented as a natural material.
00000The manufacturing process for goldstone was discovered in seventeenth-century Venice by the Miotti family, which was granted an exclusive license by the Doge. Persistent folklore attributes the discovery and secret of goldstone to an unnamed Italian monastic order, giving rise to the alternate name "monk's gold" or "monkstone".
00000The most common form of goldstone gives the illusion of being reddish-brown, although in fact that colour comes from the copper crystals and the glass itself is colourless