THE NIGHT SKY
Aventurine glass = starry dials on watches.
It can’t beat the real thing on a clear night in any of the three deserts (Sahara, the Empty Quarter, and Atacama) where the Milky Way can be seen on full display, but it comes pretty close (pretty being the operative word here). Aventurine (the glass, not the quartz stone of the same name), invented centuries ago by a Venetian glassmaker who accidentally mixed copper powder with glass paste, is having a moment in the world of horology now because of its resemblance to, well, a starry night. For city-living folk with little chance to see the real thing, aventurine glass reminds us that if we look hard enough high above, the stars are still within reach.