Dichrolam® is the brainchild of furniture designer turned chemist, John Blazy, who spent twenty years of R&D to transform hand patterned dichroic films and hard resins into a durable composite that is actually more vibrant and colorful than the Abalone and Opal - but does not have the price, size and fabrication limitations. The optical core is HIGHLY color saturated and manually patterned to look like Carpathian Elm Burl wed to Australian Black Opal. The patterning techniques took many years of experimentation to bring out the vibrant colors and the 3D swirling burl texture - while the interlaminar adhesion chemistry was equally as difficult. These core layers are not metal, but reflect color due to thin film physics called dichroism, which appear like metal, but change colors at different angles of view. The clear resin then “lenses” this optical core to amplify its visual dynamics. Natural spinel is a gemstone that has become a great favorite with gem dealers and gem collectors.