Fordite Dice

Description

Initially, Fordite colors were dark and muted, because as Henry Ford famously said, “You can have any color you want as long as its black.” But as the colorful acrylic lacquers of the 1950s and 1960s came into play, it began to appear in bright rainbow hues. The 1960s and 1970s allowed for the boldest colors, as demand for vibrant vehicles soared during those decades. Modern fordite favors the top colors of today, Metallic blacks, slivers, and whites, with layers of vivid reds and blues. Though you’ll find every color of the rainbow hidden in these icosahedrons.

Historically Fordite was initially collected at Ford Motor Company in Michigan in the 1940s, closely tying it to the legacy of the Ford factories in Detroit, and giving rise to the name Fordite, though it is now collected from General Motors and Dodge plants as well. As you can expect GM and Dodge prefer the term Detroit Agate over Fordite, though Fordite is by far the more common term.

Today Fordite is given a new life as an upcycled material. Craftsmen transform it into stunning jewelry pieces, celebrating its unique history and vibrant patterns. Owing to the thin nature of the paint layers it is rare to find Fordite roughs large enough to make more functional items like our dice. So it is mainly used in jewelry or as smaller components in larger pieces of work.