The bright, jewel-like layers of Fordite are comprised of thousands of layers of automobile paint.  Drop by drop, each layer represents a different vehicle as it passed through the paint booth in the factory.  Heated to hundreds of degrees, the layers fused together to form one of the most beautiful and completely accidental man-made composites.

This specimen is a refined piece of fordite, which has been cut and smoothed to show the beautiful colors and patterns of the material. Each specimen is completely unique; no two are the same.

This motor agate material comes from the historic Ford River Rouge Complex in Dearborn, Michigan. It dates from the late 1950s, when the facility had first begun producing the original generations of iconic cars like the Fairlane and the Thunderbird.

Tumbled and polished, these unique Fordite chips measure roughly one inch, though the shape, color, and patterns vary widely. The specimen is enclosed in a handsome, glass-topped riker box case measuring 4 1/2" x 3 1/2". A small information card is also included.

Pendants of this material are also available in the collection below!

The earliest cars were painted by hand, often using brushes or by dipping parts in slow-drying varnishes.  By some accounts it took days to dry car bodies, and manufacturers like Henry Ford took to pre-making thousands of car bodies in advance and storing them on floors built above the assembly line.

By the 1920s, advances in paint technology allowed the industry to move to spray guns and faster drying nitrocellulose lacquers.  It was during this time that most cars began undergoing heat treatment to bond the lacquer to the metal and to help the paint dry even faster.

Fordite first made its appearance in the 1940s.  As thousands of vehicles moved more quickly through each factory, dripping paint from overspray built up on the rails and eventually had to be chipped away.  The colors of the time were darker and more muted, but the swirling patterns were all there.  Later, during the 1950's and 1960's when acrylic lacquers had taken over, Fordite appeared in bright metallic colors.

In the 1970's, auto manufacturers began moving to electrostatic bonding of paint to cut down on waste and to reduce the environmental impact of volatile organic compounds.  The introduction of industrial paint robots also cut down on the amount of Fordite produced by the automotive industry, but, despite rumors to the contrary, "new" Fordite can still be found.  Today, over 90,000,000 cars and trucks are produced around the world each and every year.  That's more than 170 vehicles a minute.  Two cars were produced while you read the last two sentences.  And no matter where on Earth they are assembled, each and every one needs to be painted.

The material used in this necklace comes from the Ford River Rouge complex in Dearborn, Michigan. This factory complex was first opened in the late 1910s, building boats for the war effort. In 1927, the first automobile was manufactured at the Rouge, the Ford Model A.

The entire plant spans a massive 900 acres and contains its own docks, electric plant, and steel mill, capable of turning the raw materials of production into fully functioning vehicles. For a time it was the largest factory in the world.

The Rouge has many achievements to its name, remaining in operation from 1918 to the modern day. It has been home to fourteen generations of the F-series pickup truck, as well as the Model T, Model A, Model B, Model 48, 1937 Ford, Fairlane, Thunderbird, Mustang, Capri, Cougar, and more.