What is Fordite Jewelry? The Story Behind this Fascinating Stone

July 16, 2018 2 Comments

     Fordite jewelry is known by a few different names, including Detroit Agate and Motor Agate. This beautiful "stone" is actually the remains of old car paint from the automobile plants in Detroit and elsewhere. At one time automobiles were painted in paint booths with sprayers. Over time, overspray would build up on the walls and drains in these facilities. There can be thousands of layers of paint that make up a single Fordite stone. These would go through the ovens to be cured and hardened. After a while, this overspray would need to be cut and removed. Somewhere along the line, a few clever gem-cutters had the idea of making cabochons out of this old car paint and this resulted in the beautiful Fordite jewelry that we see today.

     Believe it or not, this is actually rarer than most stones, including diamonds! Why is it so rare? Well, today cars are not painted in the same way, so the old paint that has been chiseled off the assembly line and booths are no longer available. Simply speaking, there is a very small supply of Fordite in the world.

     From the name, we often associate Fordite with the Ford Manufacturing plant. However, it can actually come from any of the automobile manufactures that built cars during the mid-1900’s. For example, we have had Fordite jewelry from the Corvette plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Most of the rest of our selection comes from the Detroit automotive plants. The best stones were produced between the 1950’s and 1970’s because of the bright, vibrant colors.

     Fordite jewelry is incredibly unique. Every piece is different and it is a great conversation-starter. You can bet that none of your friends will have seen anything like it. You can take a look at our collection Here. Own a piece of automotive history before it’s all gone.

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