Material reference

Opalite (Imitation Glass) · Hapyaw na Liwanag

Scientific identity, documented history, and community contexts are presented with sources. TÁWID’s contemporary design interpretation is identified separately.

Material identity

This catalogue entry concerns manufactured opalescent glass marketed as opalite. Glass is a human-made material and should be distinguished from natural opal, moonstone and synthetic quartz. “Imitation” describes resemblance to another material; “synthetic” normally identifies a manufactured counterpart with essentially the same composition and structure as its natural equivalent. Opalescent appearance alone does not determine which material is present. [1] [2]

Documented historical context

The name “opalite” has not always referred to the same product. A 1989 GIA laboratory article records a plastic imitation opal offered under that trade name at Tucson in February 1988. Testing found it virtually identical to an already known Japanese-made plastic imitation. This is a dated example of trade nomenclature changing while a material re-enters the market under a new name. It is not a discovery date for all glass currently sold as opalite.

Glass has a separate craft history in which makers deliberately produce colour, translucency and optical effects. GIA’s imitation-gem overview describes glass made to resemble several natural materials, including opal, and layered glass imitating banded stones. The appropriate appreciation of a glass bead can therefore include the maker’s control of appearance and the design possibilities of manufacture.

The present entry names glass openly. Without manufacturer records, the exact recipe and production date of an individual bead remain unknown. TÁWID’s “Hapyaw na Liwanag” responds to its visual character; it is not presented as an inherited meaning of a naturally occurring crystal. [2] [3]

TÁWID’s contemporary interpretation

Hapyaw na Liwanag is TÁWID’s contemporary design title for subtle light and a restrained visual presence.

Material note

The jewellery material is described here as glass, not synthetic quartz. Glass has its own manufacturing history and should be identified openly.

References

1. Corning Museum of Glass, “Opal glass”
2. GIA, “‘Opalite’: Plastic Imitation Opal with True Play-of-Color,” Gems & Gemology (Spring 1989)
3. GIA, “An Introduction to Imitation Diamonds & Other Gems”

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