Resin bottle opener featuring Australian mineral photo thin section photograph of garnet set in pyroxene and quartz

Stylish bottle opener with stainless steel opener and an embedded mineral thin section image in resin.

This photograph depicts a magnified view (under plain polarising light) of garnet crystals set in pyroxene and quartz. The actual rock section photographed is 3mm width. The image was captured by my sister Sue during her career as a geologist and is one in a series of Australian Minerals.

This is how Sue did it:
After cutting and roughly trimming with a diamond tipped saw the rock is slowly cut, ground and then polished to a thickness of 0.03mm (30µm). Using resin to hold this incredibly thin slice of rock onto a glass slide the constituent minerals are now ready to be viewed under a polarising microscope. The diagnostic colours produced by projecting various wavelengths of light through the rock sliver, in conjunction with mineral shape and its association with other minerals are used to determine the mineral type. The diagnostic colours and shape of the mineral can also tell the experienced petrologist the approximate chemical composition of the mineral.

Working with Sue's Australian Minerals series in her memory, the image has been printed on a special photographic paper allowing me to embed the images in resin in a mould, making a stylish addition to your bar or a great gift idea for your geologist or rockhound friends, or someone who just appreciates beautiful objects!
I will be making more mineral photo bottle openers featuring all of Sue's Australian Mineral Series.
Dimensions: 14cmL