Happy Father’s Day, lovelies! In honor of all the dads out there, today’s post is about something very butch. (Well, very butch for me anyway.)That’s right, cars!  These beautiful gems are Fordite, the waste-product-turned-man-made-gemstone from Detroit. Also known as Detroit or Motor Agate, fordite is the gemstone-like byproduct of early automobile painting techniques.

Back in the early years of automotive production, cars were spray painted by hand, and the paint did what paint does – it dripped on the factory floors and dried there. When heat was used to harden the automotive paint, that process hardened the dripped paint as well, creating layer upon layer of random colors.  Periodically, the layered paint would be chipped off, and it’s believed that factory workers started bringing home the “rock” for its beauty.

These days, it’s actually used in jewelry with spectacular results.  I can’t help wondering if it’s toxic, but I guess as long as you don’t wear it every day or feed it to your children it’s safe enough.

www.fordite.com