How to distinguish crystal from glass and choose crystal glasses? How to distinguish crystal from glass
The choice of dishes today is huge and varied. But there are products that have their own appearance they immediately “talk” about their status and “breed”. And they are always in “piece” execution. This primarily applies to high-quality porcelain, luxurious crystal and glass glasses self made.
How to correctly distinguish crystal from glass when you want to buy crystal glassware and vice versa? There are several specific features that distinguish this type of glass. And first, let’s take a closer look at each of these materials.
Natural glass is very rare today. This natural material appears as a result of global natural disasters, which are not so frequent. This includes the fall of meteorites, the impacts of which are capable of transforming rock into a glassy mass. Active, huge volcanoes erupt lava, which sometimes eventually forms volcanic glass. And, of course, these types of material have nothing to do with glassware Dont Have.
But organic glass is exactly the material from which it is customary to create vessels and other utensils. Organic glass is always of artificial origin and created by human hands. The composition of the raw material may vary, but the main components are always quartz sand, feldspar and boric acid.
What is crystal?
Crystal, like glass, can be natural or artificial. The natural type includes rock crystal, which is formed in the voids of rocks and limestone, quartz veins and slate. The mineral is unusually hard and transparent. Often used in the jewelry industry as decorative inserts in jewelry.
Artificial crystal is created from glass with the addition of lead oxides in different proportions. Moreover, each country has its own composition, where the amount of lead content is individual. For example, European crystal contains about 10% lead oxides. In Russian crystal this percentage may be higher. In this regard, experts often call crystal glass with the following definitions: lead; high lead. From this we can distinguish two main types of artificial crystal:
- Classic crystal (high-lead glass), which contains up to 24-30% lead oxide.
- Crystal (lead glass) containing less than 24% lead oxides.
Bohemian crystal contains barium instead of lead and glass, which consists of a large amount of calcium.
What is the advantage of artificial crystal? It is ideal for decoration, as lead gives the material additional plasticity. Ornaments, drawings, and engravings are created on the crystal surface. Undoubtedly, this is a huge advantage in the production of artistic tableware and decorative items.
What is the difference between crystal and glass?
There are a number of signs by which crystal can be visually distinguished from glass without resorting to laboratory tests.
Thermal conductivity. The most distinctive physical property in materials is the difference in their thermal conductivity. heats up faster in your hand, becoming warm. Crystal dishes are always cool, no matter how long they are in warm palms.
Hardness and strength. To break a crystal object, you need to make some effort, which cannot be said about glass products. There are never scratches on the crystal surface, which also confirms its hardness. But steel objects, for example, can leave marks on glass objects.
Don't focus on price. Although, of course, crystal is more expensive to produce and therefore costs more. But some types of handmade glass glasses are several times higher than the price tags of crystal products.
The above practical advice will help you more effectively understand the question of how to distinguish crystal from glass. And one moment. If the authenticity of the crystal is still in doubt, it is better to contact a specialist - an expert in this field.
To begin with, it is important to understand what crystal and glass are and what their fundamental differences are.
We all consciously and subconsciously love and appreciate natural things, realizing that natural is always better. No one will create such magnificent examples of true art as only Nature.
So is crystal - it has so many advantages that glass (an artificially obtained material) cannot in any way compare with it.
Crystalis a colorless quartz, an icicle-shaped mineral (krystallos means icicle in Greek). Glass is a material obtained mainly from a mixture of quartz sand (SiO 2), soda (Na 2 CO 3 ) and lime (CaO) and has no crystalline structure.
In addition, there isartificial crystal - glass with added lead. The purity of crystal depends on the % of lead. The higher the percentage, the purer and more expensive the crystal. The most expensive crystal contains more than 30% lead oxide, the cheapest - from 18% to 24%, and in the USA it is acceptable to call even glass with 1% lead crystal.
For creating colored crystal coloring additives are used. Thus, blue tones are obtained by adding cobalt, red - cadmium or gold, pink - silicon, green - copper oxide, purple - manganese oxide. The famous Swarovski crystals are the same artificial crystal.
Crystal glass differs from crystal in its reduced lead content - from 4% to 15%. In addition, in crystal glass, part of the potassium is replaced by sodium, and part of the lead by zinc, barium, magnesium or calcium. As a rule, dishes, glasses, wine glasses, vases for the home and restaurants are made from it. In terms of its properties, it is harder than ordinary glass, but softer than crystal, so even dishwashers are safe for crystal glass. Crystal, including crystal glass products, can easily withstand temperature changes, so they can be scalded with boiling water or doused with ice water.
So, what distinguishes crystal from glass?
The main distinguishing property of crystal and glass is thermal conductivity. You can hold a crystal glass in your hands for a long time and it will not heat up, absorbing all the heat from your palms. With glass the situation is exactly the opposite - it heats up quite quickly on its surface, although the inside remains cold. So, in ancient Rome, rich people used crystal to cool their bodies on hot days.
The second pleasant property of crystal is the ability to produce a gentle “crystal” ringing, music from contact with another crystal glass or from a light blow with a thin stick or even a fingernail.
Crystal is harder than glass. A crystal glass is almost impossible to scratch and quite difficult to break. This is a very nice advantage for expensive cookware. On the Mohs hardness scale it corresponds to a number 7. Only topaz (8), corundum (9) and diamond (10) are even harder.
There may be cracks or cloudiness in rock crystal, but there cannot be foreign bodies, bubbles or voids.
To understand that this is real crystal, carefully examine the glass in the light - it should not enlarge or distort the shape of objects. If you place a glass on a sheet of paper, the edge of the sheet will optically double. And lastly, crystal refracts light perfectly, so crystal products have a special shine and shine.
Buy crystal glasses, and decanters you can in the appropriate section
Almost no special event is complete without the clinking of glasses. Modern technologies in the manufacture of tableware special occasions has reached such heights that few can distinguish glass from crystal.
You will be surprised, but from a chemical point of view, all tableware, both festive and everyday, is made of glass. The only difference is in the composition and proportions of the ingredients.
The most popular and accessible today can be called soda lime glass, consisting of quartz sand, soda and lime, which are the most accessible natural resources.
If alkaline components are replaced with boron oxide, a more durable borosilicate glass, patented by the Pyrex trademark. Such glass is not afraid of strong heat and is usually used for the production of heat-resistant cookware.
Crystal is a special type of glass made with the addition of lead. Moreover, in the USA, glass containing only 1% lead monoxide is considered crystal, and in Europe – 10–30%. The best exclusive handmade glasses are made from crystal, for example, luxury Riedel glasses.
Crystal glass or lead free crystal- the latest technological development of manufacturers of glasses and other drinking utensils. Instead of lead oxide, which is recognized as harmful by global health organizations, other ingredients are added to this glass to improve the quality of the glass. Composition formula different manufacturers may vary. But in general, crystal glass more suitable for everyday and professional use due to its durability and resistance to mechanical stress.
For example, Spiegelau glasses are made from crystal glass. High quality The components used make Spiegelau products more shiny, transparent, durable, impact resistant, and dishwasher safe than other glasses made from cheap ingredients.
Crystal glass contains at least 10% metal oxides. Potassium compounds improve light reflection, transparency, and make glass brighter and more shiny. Zinc increases resistance to chemical attack, which is why Spiegelau glasses can be safely washed in the dishwasher without fear of them tarnishing.
Comparison various types glass
|
Borosilicate |
Regular glass |
Lead free crystal |
Lead |
|
5% sodium oxide |
20% sodium oxide |
15% potassium oxide |
15% alkali metal oxide |
|
10% lime |
10% metal oxide |
24% lead oxide |
|
|
5% feldspar |
5% lime |
||
|
Example: |
Example: |
Example: |
Example: |
So how can you tell lead crystal from glass?
It is worth noting that in some cases, glassware (more precisely, crystal glass) is made so skillfully that only a special examination can give an opinion on its composition. After all, crystal glass has the same melodious ringing and crystal transparency as traditional crystal.
When choosing dishes in a store website, pay attention to the characteristics of the product. We strictly follow the manufacturer's instructions and indicate the material from which the glasses are made. You can select glasses of the required quality using catalog filters.
bubbles in glass
and crystal.
Simple and unpretentious, and most importantly available methods who will help us distinguish crystal from usual glass.
Due to the fact that most often in everyday life we consider glass, which is a synthetically produced material, then in this case it is amorphous, i.e. has no crystalline structure. Of course, in nature there are also glasses of natural origin, such as obsidian (volcanic glass) and tektites - glasses of impact origin, those that are formed when a meteorite hits the ground, but they are rather exceptions that we do not encounter in everyday life. This means that all other glass is of artificial origin.
Rhinestone- This is a colorless variety of quartz, it is a crystalline substance of natural origin.
Without the use of additional devices and equipment visually glass(including crystal, and these are all kinds of vases and bowls, salad bowls and wine glasses from the USSR, for example) from rock crystal can be distinguished by the following characteristics:
- There will definitely be gas bubbles of various shapes in glass, but they cannot be in rock crystal.
- If you look at the light, then streaks will be noticeable in the glass - this is the name given to the flow lines of a liquid and viscous substance, which is glass; streak formations are not found in crystalline substances such as rock crystal.
- different from rock crystal lower thermal conductivity (they are warm to the touch). The feeling of a warm or cold stone depends not on the nature of its origin, but on its thermal conductivity. If a stone has low thermal conductivity, it seems warm to the touch, and if a stone has high thermal conductivity, it seems cold to the touch.
In this particular case, we compare the thermal conductivity rock crystal (quartz) and glass. Those who like to experiment try the warmth of the compared stones with their tongue.
Uniform plate thickness glass, when viewed through it, unlike rock crystal, has the ability to slightly enlarge objects.
U quartz (rock crystal(colorless), Smoky Quartz, Citrine, Amethyst etc.) strong bifurcation. For example, if you take a rock crystal ball and place it on the edge of a sheet, the edge will split in two; we definitely cannot achieve this effect with a glass ball.
The first sign is bifurcation of edges.
In terms of weight, it will most likely not be possible in all cases. distinguish between glass and crystal, for quartz the density is 2.65 g/cm3, and for glass it ranges from 2 to 4.5 g/cm3, and these are quite close figures.
But for a more accurate diagnosis it is necessary to use special gemological equipment.
How to distinguish topazes from crystal or zirconium?
Topaz from crystal (quartz painted) can be distinguished by hardness. Topaz will always scratch quartz, hardness of topaz is 8, crystal – 7.
You can also distinguish topaz from crystal and from CZ (synthetic zirconium dioxide) in density. Topaz has a density of ~ 3.50 g/cm3. Quartz has 2.5-2.7 g/cm/cubic. That is, with the same size, topaz is heavier than quartz. Zirconium dioxide has a density of 5.5-5.7 g/cm. cube, and with the same size as topaz, zirconium is much heavier.
Measuring density at home is not difficult at all. To do this, you need to have fairly accurate scales that measure weight with an accuracy of 0.01 grams, and preferably in carats, a 5-10 ml beaker and a 1 ml measuring capillary with a division value of 0.01 ml. Well – and a calculator, of course.
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How to distinguish a product made from ordinary glass from a product made from crystal? First, let's try to figure out what each of these materials is.
Glass is, as a rule, an artificial material, because in nature it is formed extremely rarely, after such infrequent natural disasters as a volcanic eruption (volcanic glass) and a meteorite fall. In all other cases, glass is of artificial origin.
Pure rock crystal is a type of colorless natural quartz, shaped like a hexagonal pyramid (icicle). Translated from Greek "krystallos" means ice. Crystal is born in cavities rocks(“crystal cellars”) and in the voids of lava deposits. But it also occurs in quartz veins (“crystal coffins”), limestone rocks and slate.
There is also so-called artificial crystal - glass with the addition of lead in certain proportions. In each country, the permissible amount of lead for glass to be called crystal is different. In Europe, for example, no more than ten percent; in the USA, one is enough. There are also definitions such as lead and high-lead crystal, which differ in the percentage of lead content.
How to distinguish glass from crystal not in laboratory conditions and without gemological equipment.
The most important difference is this physical property, like thermal conductivity. If you place your palm on the glass, it will quickly heat up and become warm. The crystal will remain cool no matter how long it is kept in warm hands. In ancient Rome, patricians even used crystal balls to cool their hands in the heat.
If you run wet fingers over the crystal surface, a clear sound will appear, reminiscent of ringing, but glass will not produce such a “sound.”
Crystal, even processed, is harder than glass. Therefore, it will not be possible to detect various damages and scratches on it, even if you scratch it with a steel tool. But it can easily leave a mark on the glass, even with a slight impact on the surface. It will take some effort to break the crystal.
But the presence of gaseous bubbles or foreign inclusions indicates that this is ordinary glass. Rock crystal, on the other hand, can only include cracks and cloudiness.
During glass production, so-called lines are formed in it - lines along which a viscous liquid substance flows. When light passes through the glass these lines can be seen. You will not see these lines in crystal.
Glass has a uniform thickness across its entire surface and therefore tends to slightly magnify objects when you look through it. Looking through the crystal, no changes in the size and shape of things are noticed.
Rock crystal has the property of strong bifurcation. For example, if you take a crystal ball and place it on the edge of a sheet, the edge will split in two. This effect definitely cannot be achieved by conducting this experiment with a glass ball.
Rock crystal has a high refractive index, due to which it differs from glass in its special shine in the light and play of colors.
There is one more important difference that glass does not have - a “crystal” sound. If you knock two items made of crystal against each other (these can be chandelier pendants or glasses), you will hear a transparent, ringing, long, increasing resonant hum, which is not characteristic of glass.
If you still have doubts, and it is necessary to establish the authenticity of the crystal, then it is better to resort to the help of an expert examination.