Gold is one of the very few elements which truly is found in its pure, native state in nature. Sure, so’s copper, silver and a dozen others, technically, but looking at those specimens - again, as found in nature - they’re typically full of impurities and coated with oxides. Gold though is often found north of 99% pure as is. What’s even crazier is that in some cases it can even be found as dendritic crystals. These crystals bear a strong resemblance to snowflakes and just as their icy counterparts are supremely delicate. The thing is, metallic crystals can only grow under certain conditions but the first pre-requisite is a high degree of purity as contaminants disrupt their growth at an atomic level. That makes natural gold crystals pretty remarkable.

These natural dendrites are prized by mineral collectors and fetch prices far beyond their metal content; limiting the pool of collectors who can acquire them. The carefully tuned conditions possible in a laboratory allow the formation of much larger crystals giving way, in theory, to a more affordable alternative to obtain them. In theory because commissioning a laboratory to make metal crystals - any metal - often comes with shocking price tags. Besides the famous exception of bismuth, the equipment necessary to make these crystals is out of the reach of hobbyists… to say nothing of the expertise required to make them.

Until now! Luciteria’s partnership with small labs is slowly bearing fruit. Gold is the newest entry and arguably the most beautiful to date. Even better news? They don’t cost much more than their base metal price!