Fused Dichroic Glass Pendant "PATIENCE" Chinese Characters & 18K Gold Plated Bale

This is a gorgeous dichroic glass pendant by the well known glass artist, June Diamond. In addition to the dichroic process, she uses a glass silk-screen process to depict the Chinese characters for the word "PATIENCE". All her glass art is created in her studio in California. The pendant is signed and it has an 18K gold-plated bale. The pendant measures approximately 1.75 inches by 1.2 inches including the bale.

The word dichroic comes from the Greek meaning "two-color". Held to the light, dichroic glass transmits one color; held horizontally, it reflect the opposite color of the spectrum. Additional colors appear as the glass is tilted at various angles.

The dichroic coating is applied to only one sheet of glass at a time in a vacuum chamber that is heated to 300 degrees. The metals are placed in the chamber & heated to their boiling point. Vapors are formed that are deposited on the sheet of glass. Up to 96 extremely thin layers of material are deposited. When the coating is finished, the glass is allowed to cool. This entire process takes about 2 hours.

The thin layers of metal oxide on the glass form an "interference filter" which transmits and reflects the light energy that hits it. This is much the same effect as when a beam of sunlight is refracted and dispersed by a prism, forming a rainbow display of colors.

Item ID: JBC-2885