MOTOR Agate “Fordite” UNIQUE OOAK Solid Sterling Silver Pendant

Motor Agate (Fordite) is not actually a gemstone, but is a slice of American history. Starting in the 1920s, auto manufacturers began painting car bodies using a hand-spraying technique to speed up the painting process, and overspray would accumulate in the paint bays. Over time, layer upon colorful layer built up. The pieces of enamel paint slag were repeatedly hardened in the ovens in which the cars went to cure the paint, according to Fordite.com, with some of the layers baked up to 100 times. Eventually, the paint clumps got in the way of vehicle assembly and had to be removed. Luckily for us, groups of factory workers eventually started salvaging the material. It takes about 997 layers of paint to build a 1-inch thick fordite specimen.  By the 1980s, car manufacturers had moved away from the hand-spray painting method. This meant of course, no more paint buildup so the supply of fordite is limited to what’s already on the market. Former auto workers and their families, as well as classic car enthusiasts, have caches of Motor Agate tucked away in tool boxes, auto body shops, garages, attics and cellars. Interest in vintage Fordite is a sixties and seventies thing, and those from that era might recognize the colors of their early automobiles within the whorls and multi-colored, layered bands of a piece of Motor Agate. (Visit Fordite.com for more information and examples of the layers.) Solid Sterling Silver Size: 2” Long Includes A 20” Snake Chain UNIQUE!