Over 50 years later, Breton is still going strong and manufacturing quartz countertops. In 1963, the technology of creating engineered stone was developed by the Breton company in northeast Italy, which licensed the process under the trademark Bretonstone®. The industry, in fact, is increasingly using the term engineered stone to refer to this type of countertop.īottom line: Quartz countertops can include some amount of actual quartz, but they include no solid quartz extracted from quarries and likely have lots of other materials in them, as well.Īll Quartz Countertops Essentially Flow From 1 Source More accurately, a quartz countertop should probably be called engineered stone or compound stone-terms that more accurately describe the way these products are created. All of this rock material mixed together and held together with binders is what gives a so-called quartz countertop the look and feel of stone. Yes, there's some actual quartz-sometimes a lot of it. And the other 90 percent? Crushed up waste granite, marble, and natural stone or recycled industrial wastes, such as ceramic, silica, glass, and mirrors. Rather, it's a polymeric or cement-based binder. But about 10 percent of the material volume in a quartz countertop isn't stone at all. In most quartz countertops, some quartz is present. The Spruce Home Improvement Review Board.For more information, visit the museum on its website, blog, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. Opened in 1910, the museum is dedicated to maintaining and preserving the world’s most extensive collection of natural history specimens and human artifacts. It is one of the most visited natural history museums in the world. The National Museum of Natural History is connecting people everywhere with Earth’s unfolding story. “Quartz is one of the basic building blocks of our Earth, and we hope this amazing specimen will inspire a sense of awe in people and excite them to learn more about our world.” About the National Museum of Natural History “A cluster of clear quartz crystals of this size and quality is extraordinarily rare,” said Jeffrey Post, mineralogist and curator-in-charge of gems and minerals at the museum. Their shape comes from how their atomic building blocks, silicon and oxygen, lock into precise, repeating arrangements. Quartz crystals look like hexagonal prisms that culminate in a point. In its synthetic form, it is a key ingredient in watches, radios and other electronics. In its natural form, it is the second most common mineral in Earth’s crust and is the mineral behind the well-known gems amethyst and citrine. “The specimen’s research value is significant, but its dramatic appearance makes it one of the most striking visual experiences in the museum.”įrom sandstone to gemstones, quartz is everywhere. rex and Henry the elephant-on display in the most visited natural history museum in the world,” said Kirk Johnson, Sant Director of the National Museum of Natural History. “We are thrilled to have the Berns Quartz join other Smithsonian icons-the Hope Diamond, the Nation’s T. It is named the Berns Quartz in recognition of Michael and Tricia Berns, whose philanthropic support brought the specimen into the museum’s collection. The quartz was discovered at the Coleman Mine in Arkansas’ Ouachita Mountains in 2016. At 7 feet tall and more than 8,000 pounds in weight, the gigantic cluster of thousands of sparkling crystals stands in the front gallery, adjacent to the museum’s historic north entrance. This is among the largest examples of quartz specimens on display in any museum in America. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History unveiled a stunning slab of quartz crystals today, Oct.
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