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What
Are Our Products Made Of?
Alabastrite
Alabastrite is Unique In Ink's product
line name for polyresin items. Alabastrite is a stone-based material
which can be intricately molded producing great detail, and will
allow paint to adhere. These items may be cleaned by dusting,
however, they should not be washed with water as they are painted
with water soluble paints.
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Bone
China
White clay with bone ash added. Bone ash
content must be at least 25% by U. S. guidelines. Fired at 1800
degrees. The translucent material is finished with a glaze or
underglaze (matte). Lighter, stronger, more expensive than porcelain.
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Porcelain
Fine ground white clay, molded and fired
in an oven for eight hours at 1200 degrees. Finished with a glazed,
underglazed, or "bisque" finish. Glazing produces a
high gloss; underglaze produces a matte finish. Bisque is a matte
finish without glaze. After finishing, the item is "cooked"
for six hours at 800 degrees.
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Jade
Porcelain
Jade porcelain is a type of porcelain made
with a finer clay. Usually no glaze or only a colorless glaze
will be applied at the final firing to show off the very smooth
surface and to preserve the translucency. Example: 27112. Jade
Porcelain is used for night lights because of its high degree
of translucency when lit.
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Stoneware
White clay with fine ground stone.
Working with stoneware demands great expertise, and is in fact
becoming a lost art. Stoneware is safe to use in microwave and
conventional ovens.
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Patchwork
Items
Unique fabric or paper prints are applied
to the surface of porcelain, dolomite or polyresin items. After
application, 12 layers of lacquer are added and the item is hand
polished to a high gloss between each layer.
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Cubic
Zircon
The most successful simulated diamond.
Properties such as refraction, hardness, and specific gravity
are remarkably similar to diamonds. Example: 27432. Cubic zirconia
are very hard to distinguish from diamonds; sometimes a jewelers
loop will be needed to see the difference.
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Diamond
Extremely hard, highly refractive colorless
or white crystalline of carbon. Diamonds, like all gemstones,
are judged in terms of Carats, or weight (different from Karats,
as in gold purity).
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Gold
The ultimate precious metal. Virtually
indestructible, amazingly malleable, doesn't rust or tarnish.
Graded by purity; in the U.S. a scale of 24 is used, so 24 Karats
(24K) is 100% pure. 18K is 18 parts gold and 6 parts alloy
(other metals), and so on. 10K is the legal minimum for Karat-graded
gold. The word "Plumb" indicates the exact purity of the piece.
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Gemstones
Rubies, sapphires, emeralds
and amethysts, often treasured as birthstones, fall under the
category of gemstones. (Birthstones are listed in the back of
your WOP catalog.) Gemstones are priced and graded by Carat weight.
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Pearl
A smooth, lustrous, variously-colored
deposit formed around a grain of sand in the shell of a certain
mollusk. Pearls may be formed naturally or "cultured"
through an artificial implanting process.
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Sterling Silver
To qualify as "sterling"
a given piece must be composed of a least 92.5% pure silver.
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Hong Tze
To closely emulate a special
stone found in China which is known for its deep red color, these
items are created using an alabastrite polyresin. Hong Tze pieces
are highly polished, further bringing out the intense, deep red
color.
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Frosted Acrylic
Acrylic items are given
the French Lilac process, (used on glass), to achieve the distinctive
frosted look. Example: 27205. The drama of frosted glass without
the weight.
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Gypsum
Gypsum is a white mineral
which is usually used to make Plaster of Paris.
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Dolomite
A magnesia-rich, sedimentary
rock resembling limestone, dolomite is either gray, pink or white
in color.
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