Brief Introduction To Backlit Onyx

By Author: Seanparker
Total Articles: 3
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Onyx is a form of quartz and which is found in many countries around the World from Brazil, Mexico, India and Iran to name but a few. Onyx is a highly variable material that can demonstrate wild changes in colours and markings over a relatively short distance, so onyx is not a material for the faint hearted and they range in colour from white, through to yellows, reds and even black and they have exceptional translucent qualities when backlit. However onyx is also a very soft material that will easily scratch and stain as it is a highly porous material that can prove difficult to maintain. However this issue can be overcome by laminating onyx to tempered glass. Using this principle the tempered glass adds considerable strength, whilst still allowing translucency to the onyx and this means this otherwise fragile material can be used even in the most hostile commercial situations. Tempered glass is used in preference to standard float glass due to its immense strength and also for safety reasons.

Once processed onto glass the thickness of the onyx is reduced from 2cm usually to a 5mm veneer, but this can be further reduced ...
... to allow even some of the darker onyx colours to achieve their maximum potential for translucent applications. Backlighting onyx with either natural or artificial light, demonstrates a three dimensional appearance with both movement and depth. The addition of glass also allows onyx to be used in situations that before now would have been considered impossible, such as exterior cladding. This is achieved as the glass, which afterall has been used for external facades for many years, is the protective layer that can also assist in eliminating harmful Ultra Violet light as well as protecting the onyx from the harmful effects of acid erosion and traffic pollutions. Thereby offering the visual benefits that only real onyx can provide but with no maintenance and their associated on costs to consider.

Imagine how such a beautiful natural material that was formed millions of years ago can now be processed with state of the art machinery and technology allowing one of the World’s most beautiful and exotic materials to be used in applications that would have previously been considered impossible but not now. Consider backlit onyx for a wide range of commercial applications such as bar counters, tables, furniture, water features, walls, and point of sale displays units, flooring, ceilings and many more.