Spectrum Glass
Spectrum Glass - Categories & Families
The many varieties of Spectrum® products are available in the following families and/or categories.
Transparent Glass (Also known as Cathedral)
Transparent glasses boast their colour in all manner of transmitted light. These simple glasses are the foundation of traditional glasswork, and are available in a selection of colour and texture that is unmatched, anywhere.
Smooth Transparent - Smooth as Spectrum: Nearly texture-free, Spectrum Smooths are a classic choice in every segment of the glass arts. Smooths are denoted by either an “S” or “SF” suffix to the stock number.
Textured Transparent - Texture bends and refracts light passing through a transparent glass, amplifying the colour while gently muting background images. This category includes the popular Rough Rolled family.
Artíque®
A scribed "antique" transparent glass family, alive with the surface striations characteristic of mouth-blown sheet glass. Artíque unites brilliant surface characteristics, delicate light refraction and subtle but definite background distortion. A Spectrum exclusive.
Waterglass®
Transparent colours with a natural surface texture created by stretching the hot glass sheet while it is still in a pliable state. The result is gentle, rolling waves that resemble the surface of a lake or stream. A Spectrum exclusive.
Rough Rolled
Spectrum “Rough Rolled” (RR) transparent products have a subtle, delicate texturing that gently mutes transmitted light and images. It’s the look of a naturally “chilled” glass surface, like table-rolled glasses of years gone by.
Baroque™
A "reamy" glass produced by combining glasses of mis-matched compositions. The different glasses "oppose" each other when they are stirred together, creating artistic 3-D swirls. A Spectrum exclusive.
Clear Textures
Texture is the personality of art glass, suggesting dimension, depth and contrast. In clear glass, texture is also useful for achieving varying degrees of privacy, while adding elegance and richness. Spectrum’s wide assortment of Clear Textures range from quite transparent to very obscure.
“Classic” Variegated Mixes
One or more transparent glasses combined with white opalescent (opal) glass to create a variegated, multi-coloured sheet. Available with varying degrees of light transmission categorized as Wispy, Translucent, and Semi-Translucent.
Wispy Opalescent mixes are traditionally composed of about 3/4 cathedral glass colour and about 1/4 opaque white glass. In the finished sheet, wisps of opal display as both surface variegation and internal shadowing, generating reflection and depth.
Translucent Opalescent mixes are about 50-50 cathedral colour and white opal glass. The larger proportion of opaque white reduces light transmission and increases surface reflection.
Semi-Translucent Opalescent mixes are primarily opal glass, eliminating the perception of images through the sheet. Because of their relative opacity, these glasses are highly reflective in nature.
Pearl Opal Art Mix
Stunning multi-colour blends with the unmistakably luminescent Pearl glow that is further enhanced with the subtle Corsica texturing. A Spectrum exclusive.
Solid Opalescent
Solid colour, opalescent glasses. These non-variegated products are highly reflective in nature and thus especially popular for mosaic and mural application. With natural or artificial, backlighting they reveal a captivating, luminescent glow.
Iridescent Glass
A thin layer of metallic crystal has been bonded to these glasses during sheet forming, creating a colourful, shimmering surface effect. In System 96® fusible glasses (indicated by the “SF” suffix), the Iridescent coating is high-fire and will not burn off in the kiln.
SilverCoats™
Unique art glass products with a bright, reflective silver-coat to one side - perfect for projects that demand brilliance. A Spectrum exclusive.
OpalArt™
Hypnotic OpalArt is created when disparate glasses are stirred together onto an opalescent base. The resulting broad swirls of colour are as unique as they are magnificent. A Spectrum exclusive.
Spirit™
Sweeping comets of colour on either a clear or Firelight base creates a distinct, mouth-blown look. A Spectrum exclusive.
Crystal Opal
The translucent, almost ghostly quality of Crystal Opals distinguishes them from more common opalescent products. The glass gathers and disperses light like the crystal for which it is named.
Spectrum Home Collection
Distinctive art glass textures for cabinetry, home furnishings and interior design. Many products are available in thick and/or oversized sheets.
System 96®
Products formulated and "Tested Compatible" especially for fusing, slumping and other hot glass work. This Spectrum line of sheet glass (denoted by the “SF” suffix) is complemented by many specialty glass products, including glass frits, noodle, stringer, dichroic glass, and casting materials, made and supplied by System 96 partner companies. All System 96 products are tested against an identical standard to insure compatibility of viscosity and expansion coefficient.
Aventurine
A System 96 product that, when fired, releases a galaxy of dazzling metallic flakes imbedded within the glass.
Information courtesy of http://www.spectrumglass.com/stained-glass/products/categories.asp
Spectrum Product Classifications
Explanation of Numbering System
Spectrum® Glass is classified by a code system which permits users to visualize the product even without a sample in hand. The system attempts to identify colours by number, and in most cases describes lightness or darkness, colour dominance, light transmission and texture. Though the system is imperfect, and most rules have their exceptions, with a little study and practice you will find this a reasonably understandable method of communicating about Spectrum glass.
The code is basically numerical, with digits to designate;
- Category or general product description
- Colour(s)
- Intensity of colour (lightness/darkness)
- Degree of translucency
Category - Always the 1st digit in a product code.
- 100 series - Cathedrals (single non-opal colours)
- 200 series - Opal glasses, either solid colours or non-white opals in a cathedral mix
- 300 series - Mix of single cathedral colour with white opal
- 400 series - Mix of two cathedral colours
- 500 series - One cathedral colour described by blended hues (like greenish blue)
- 600 series - Multi-colour mixes (3+) including white opal
- 700 series - Multi-colour mixes (3+) not including white
- 800 series - One Blended-hue cathedral (500 series) mixed with white opal
Colour - Primary colours are designated as follows.
- 1 - Amber
- 2 - Green
- 3 - Blue
- 4 - Purple
- 5 - Red
- 6 - Yellow
- 7 - Orange
- 8 - Gray
- 9 - Pink
- 0 - Clear
- 00 - Black
Intensity - The relative lightness or darkness of the colours, starting from 0 = clear.
- 0.1 to 0.9 - pale
- 1 to 2 - light
- 3 to 4 - medium
- 5 to 6 - dark
- 7 to 9 - very dark
Translucency - The degree of light transmission, as affected by the proportion of opal, white or coloured, in the product. Actual light transmission is also related to the colour intensity and texture of the glass.
Examples
- 5 - Semi-dense (Mostly opal with swirls of colour)
- 6 - Semi-translucent
- 7 - Translucent (About 50% colour, 50% opal)
- 8 - Semi-transparent
- 9 - Most transparent (Mainly colour with swirls of opal, "wispy")
Reading the Code
100 Series
- 1st digit - category (100 series)
- 2nd digit - indicates colour
- 3rd digit - indicates intensity
Examples
o 121 - Cathedral, green, light
o 136 - Cathedral, blue, dark
o 140.8* - Cathedral, purple, pale
*Where a decimal point appears in any code, it relates to a colour intensity that has decreased below the number 1, thus a pale shade.
200 Series
- 1st digit - category (200 series)
- 2nd digit - base colour
- 3rd digit - added colour or influencing hue
- 4th digit after a dash - indicates translucency
- 5th digit - intensity of the dominant colour
Examples
o 291-61 - Solid opal, amberish pink, semi-translucent, light intensity (Champagne)
o 201-61 - Clear glass, opal amber added, semi-translucent, light intensity
300 Series
- 1st digit - indicates category (300 series)
- 2nd digit - indicates colour
- 3rd digit - indicates translucency
- 4th digit after a dash - indicates intensity of the cathedral colour
Examples
o 329-6 - Opal mix, green, wispy - dark
o 347-1 - Opal mix, purple, translucent - light
o 315-2 - Opal mix, amber, semi-dense - medium
400 Series
- 1st digit - indicates category (400 series)
- 2nd digit - indicates dominant colour
- 3rd digit - indicates secondary colour
- 4th & 5th digit after a dash - indicates intensity of the colours, respectively
Examples
o 411-15 - mix of two ambers, one light, one dark
o 430-6 - mix of blue and clear, blue is dark
o 451-20 - dominant red with amber, red is darker
500 Series
- 1st digit - indicates category (500 series)
- 2nd digit - indicates primary colour
- 3rd digit - indicates influencing hue
- 4th digit after a dash - indicates intensity
Examples
o 538-4 - Cathedral, greyish blue - medium
o 523-2 - Cathedral, bluish-green - light
600 Series
- 1st digit - indicates category (600 series)
- 2nd digit - indicates dominant colour
- 3rd digit - indicates secondary colour
- Additional digits before dash - indicates additional colours in mix
- 1st digit after dash - indicates translucency
- 2nd digit after dash (optional) - indicates intensity of dominant colour
Examples
o 609-8 - White, clear & pink - semi-transparent
o 675-5 - White, orange & red - semi-dense
o 633-7 - White, blue & blue - translucent
700 Series
- 1st digit - indicates category (700 series)
- 2nd digit - indicates dominant colour
- Additional digits before dash - indicates additional colours in mix, in order of dominance
- 1st digit after dash - indicates intensity of dominant colours
Examples
o 7032-6 - Clear, blue & green - dark
o 7443-4 - Purple, purple & blue - medium
* These are examples only, not actual products.
800 Series
- 1st digit - indicates category (800 series)
- 2nd & 3rd digit - same as 500 series
- 4th digit after dash - indicates translucency
- 5th digit - indicates intensity
Examples
o 826-71 - White, yellowish-green - translucent, light colour intensity (Lime)
o 843-71 - White, bluish purple - translucent, light intensity (Lavender)
Texture Codes
Most stock numbers carry a suffix indicating the glass texture. Not all textures are available in every product.
- S - smooth surface (untextured)
- Seedy - seedy glass
- R - Ripple
- RR - Rough Rolled
- H - Hammered
- HS - Hammered small
- G - Granite
- GG - Ice crystal
- C - Chord
- CC - Corsica
- CZ - Corteza
- QR - Quarter-Reed
- K - Krinkle
- RW - RainWater
- SN - Satin
- V - Vecchio
Type Codes
Special glass types carry a designation in their stock number, as either a suffix or a prefix. When the type code is prefixed, a slash (/) separates it from the numerical glass designation. Multiple type codes and texture codes can occur in the same stock number (see examples).
* See General Information for complete definitions of each of these glass types.
- A - Artíque® (suffix)
- W - Waterglass® (suffix)
- SF - Spectrum Fusible (suffix-tested compatible products for hot glass arts)
- BR - Baroque™ (prefix)
- I - Iridescent glass (prefix)
- OA - OpalArt (prefix)
- SP - Spirit (prefix)
- T - T-Glass (prefix) (non-standard glass)
- RS - Random Size (prefix) (studio sheets)
- SC - SilverCoats (prefix)
- AA - 5mm Spectrum for the Home (prefix)
- A - 3mm Spectrum for the Home (prefix)
Examples
o I/100W - Iridescent Clear Waterglass
o I/100R - Iridescent Clear Ripple
o I/1009W - Iridescent Black Waterglass
o RS/200S - Random Size White Opal
o RS/BR/Teal - Random Size Teal Baroque
Exceptions & Oddities
Recognize that it is impossible to create a perfect numerical communication system for a subject as infinite as colour, not to mention multi-colour mixes with varying translucency, textures and special effects. So, when you find a seeming anomaly, bear with us. Here are a few that exist now:
- 1009: Solid Black. The digit reads: cathedral, black (00), very dark (9)
- 200S = Solid White
- BR/400: Black on clear, streaky Baroque
Baroque glasses are often cathedral colours swirled into clear glass. We've chosen to designate them by colour name, in many cases:
- BR/Burgundy - Burgundy swirled into clear
- BR/Cinnamon - Cinnamon swirled into clear
- BR/Clear - Clear swirled into clear
The Nature of Art Glass
Unlike common window glass, which is perfectly smooth and flawless, art glass seeks visual character through aesthetic "imperfections". These characteristics mimic the hand-made sheet glass of centuries past. They come in the form of textural waves and striations, random seeds (air bubbles) and a variety of other natural effects. Art glass achieves its personality through these peculiarities, and no two sheets are ever identical.
Information courtesy of http://www.spectrumglass.com/stained-glass/products/categories.asp