I know that this is a synthetic material but does anyone know
anything more about it. A web search just turns up the pages of
Signity and a rather obscure marsh grass.
Tony, I’m not sure my earlier message got out of the firewall. Anyway,
Alpinite is a trademark in the US held by Signity, which is in turned
formed of a merger between Swarogem and Golay Bucher. Manufacturers of
synthetic gemstones tend to be very closed about their processes.
However, I found an international patent dated 1998 for a synthetic
gem issued to Swarovski. Alpinite was trademarked in 1999. An educated
guess leads me to think they are related. Here is the abstract from the
patent:
(11) WO 98/(54) ARTIFICIAL GEMSTONE (71) D. SWAROVSKI & CO.
Swarovskistrasse 30, A-6112 Wattens Abstract The invention relates to
an artificial gemstone made of transparent ceramic material containing
aluminium. The gemstone is cut with facets on both sides, has an even
front surface (panel) and tapers to a point on the rear side. It is
made of a material which is crystallized principally in spinel
structure. Hope it helps. Lucy
Tony et al Alpinite is US trade name owned by Signity, a recent merger
between Swarovski and Golay Buchel. It is often difficult to find
technical on synthetic gemstone materials. In addition to
the trademark, I found a PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) patent WO
98/54109 (published in 1998) that describes the following
ARTIFICIAL GEMSTONE No Image Available. (57) Abstract The invention
relates to an artificial gemstone made of transparent ceramic material
containing aluminium. The gemstone is cut with facets on both sides,
has an even front surface (panel) and tapers to a point on the rear
side. It is made of a material which is crystallized principally in
spinel structure.
Because Alpinite appears to be introduced in 1999, I wonder if this
may be the corresponding patent.
A guess, anyway.
Thanks to everyone who wrote about Alpinite.
Signity are nice people and they do produce a brilliant product but I
do wish people wouldn’t make up names for synthetic stones!