Jewelry can be very beautiful and add elegance to just about any situation. What about those events where it is quite dark and nobody can see the jewels that you are wearing? Well, Sofie Boons is a jeweler and a scientist at the University of West of England and she has found the perfect solution.

She has developed a lab-grown crystal that will actually glow in the dark. This was the culmination of a multi-year research project that looked into the various uses of experimentally grown crystals in jewelry. In addition to this glowing crystal, she has also been able to make the first ruby that was grown from a ‘ruby seed,’ which is now part of a platinum ring.

The crystal is made using a new material called BRG. They crafted a single stone that has brilliant coloration during the day and can glow for up to 24 hours. The strength of the glow will diminish over time. This works because the atoms that the crystal is made of absorbs light energy during the day, which put them into an excited and unstable state. When the source of light is gone, the atoms attempt to return to an unexcited state, which means they will emit light for a period of time.

Sofie Boons did an interview with IFLScience where she explained how this works:

“The glowing effects of BRG are due to the Eu²⁺ ions introduced into the crystal matrix and two so-called traps related to Dy³⁺ and Nd³⁺, which allow them to store the light for a period of time. The exact nature of the traps is still the subject of ongoing investigations and optimisation efforts.”

She also talked about how this crystal glowing is different from the common  glow in the dark materials that people commonly see today:

“Phosphorescent materials we encounter in daily life are usually based on pigments embedded in plastics, lacquers, paints, or other support materials. The phosphorescence occurs at the surface of these non-transparent substances. With these new single crystals, new design effects based on three-dimensional transparent volumes can be used. This paves the way to introducing a new functionality in gemstones and gem-like ornamental objects, by enabling the use of an internal light source that needs only a brief activation by daylight.”

It will be interesting to see what types of applications this new type of crystal will have both in the area of jewelry and for other uses.

This glow in the dark crystal is amazing.

If you think that’s impressive, check out this story about a “goldmine” of lithium that was found in the U.S. that could completely change the EV battery game.