Hematite
Hematite (blood ore) from Michigan
General
Category	Oxide minerals
Chemical formula	iron(III) oxide, Fe2O3, α-Fe2O3
Strunz classification	04.CB.05
Crystal symmetry	Trigonal hexagonal scalenohedral H-M symbol: (32/m) Space group: R3c
Unit cell	a = 5.038(2) Å, c = 13.772(12) Å; Z=6
Identification
Color	Metallic gray, dull to bright red
Crystal habit	Tabular to thick crystals; micaceous or platy, commonly in rosettes; radiating fibrous, reniform, botryoidal or stalactitic masses, columnar; earthy, granular, oolitic
Crystal system	Trigonal
Twinning	Penetration and lamellar
Cleavage	None, may show partings on {0001} and {1011}
Fracture	Uneven to sub-conchoidal
Tenacity	Brittle
Mohs scale hardness	5.5 – 6.5
Luster	Metallic to splendent
Streak	Bright red to dark red
Diaphaneity	Opaque
Specific gravity	5.26
Optical properties	Uniaxial (-)
Refractive index	nω = 3.150 - 3.220 nε = 2.870 - 2.940
Birefringence	δ = 0.280
Pleochroism	O = brownish red; E = yellowish red
References	[1][2][3]

Hematite, also spelled as haematite, is the mineral form of iron(III) oxide (Fe₂O₃), one of several iron oxides. Hematite crystallizes in the rhombohedral system, and it has the same crystal structure as ilmenite and corundum. Hematite and ilmenite form a complete solid solution at temperatures above 950 °C.

Hematite is a mineral, colored black to steel or silver-gray, brown to reddish brown, or red. It is mined as the main ore of iron. Varieties include kidney ore, martite (pseudomorphs after magnetite), iron rose and specularite (specular hematite). While the forms of hematite vary, they all have a rust-red streak. Hematite is harder than pure iron, but much more brittle. Maghemite is a hematite- and magnetite-related oxide mineral.

Huge deposits of hematite are found in banded iron formations. Grey hematite is typically found in places where there has been standing water or mineral hot springs, such as those in Yellowstone National Park in the United States. The mineral can precipitate out of water and collect in layers at the bottom of a lake, spring, or other standing water. Hematite can also occur without water, however, usually as the result of volcanic activity.

Clay-sized hematite crystals can also occur as a secondary mineral formed by weathering processes in soil, and along with other iron oxides or oxyhydroxides such as goethite, is responsible for the red color of many tropical, ancient, or otherwise highly weathered soils.

Etymology and history[link]

Hematite in a scanning electron microscope, magnification 100x

Close-up of hematitic banded iron formation specimen from Upper Michigan. Scale bar is 5.0 mm.

Cypro-Minoan cylinder seal (left) made from hematite with corresponding impression (right), approximately 14th century BC

The name hematite is derived from the Greek word for blood αἷμα haima because hematite can be red, as in rouge, a powdered form of hematite. The color of hematite lends it well in use as a pigment. The English name of the stone is derived from Middle French: Hématite Pierre, which was imported from Latin: Lapis Hæmatites, which originated from Ancient Greek: αἱματίτης λίθος (haimatitēs lithos, “blood-red stone”).

Ochre is a clay that is colored by varying amounts of hematite, varying between 20% and 70%.^[4] Red ochre contains unhydrated hematite, whereas yellow ochre contains hydrated hematite (Fe₂O₃ • H₂O). The principal use of ochre is for tinting with a permanent color.^[4]

The red chalk winning of this mineral was one of the earliest in the history of mankind. The powdery mineral was first used 164,000 years ago by the Pinnacle-Point man obviously for social differentiation.^[5] Hematite residues are also found in old graveyards from 80,000 years ago. Near Rydno in Poland and Lovas in Hungary, palaeolitic red chalk mines have been found that are from 5000 BC, belonging to the Linear Pottery culture at the Upper Rhine.

Rich deposits of hematite have been found on the island of Elba that have been mined since the time of the Etruscans.

Jewelry[link]

Hematite carving, 5 cm (2 in) long.

Hematite's popularity in jewelry was at its highest in Europe during the Victorian era, and has since seen a strong resurgence in North America, especially in the western United States. Certain types of hematite or iron oxide rich clay, especially Armenian bole has been used in gilding. Hematite is also used in art such as intaglio engraved gems. Hematine is a synthetic material sold as magnetic hematite.^[6]

Magnetism[link]

Hematite is an antiferromagnetic material below the Morin transition at 250 K, and a canted antiferromagnet or weakly ferromagnetic above the Morin transition and below its Néel temperature at 948 K, above which it is paramagnetic.

The magnetic structure of a-hematite was the subject of considerable discussion and debate in the 1950s because it appeared to be ferromagnetic with a Curie temperature of around 1000 K, but with an extremely tiny moment (0.002 µ_B). Adding to the surprise was a transition with a decrease in temperature at around 260 K to a phase with no net magnetic moment. It was shown that the system is essentially antiferromagnetic, but that the low symmetry of the cation sites allows spin–orbit coupling to cause canting of the moments when they are in the plane perpendicular to the c axis. The disappearance of the moment with a decrease in temperature at 260 K is caused by a change in the anisotropy which causes the moments to align along the c axis. In this configuration, spin canting does not reduce the energy.^[7][8]. The magnetic properties of bulk hematite differs from their nanoscale counterparts. For example, Morin transition temperature of hematite decreases with decrease in the particle size. The suppression of this transition have also been observed in some of the hematite nanoparticles and the presence of impurities, water molecule and defects in the crystals were attributed to the absence of Morin transition. Hematite is part of a complex solid solution oxyhydroxide system having various degrees of water, hydroxyl group, and vacancy substitutions that affect the mineral's magnetic and crystal chemical properties.^[9] Two other end-members are referred to as protohematite and hydrohematite.

Iron from mine tailings[link]

Hematite is present in the waste tailings of iron mines. A recently developed process, magnetation, uses huge magnets to glean waste hematite from old mine tailings in Minnesota's vast Mesabi Range iron district.^[10]

Discovery on Mars[link]

Image mosaic from the Mars Exploration Rover Microscopic Imager shows Hematite spherules partly embedded in rock at the Opportunity landing site. Image is ca. 5 cm (2 in) across.

The spectral signature of hematite was seen on the planet Mars by the infrared spectrometer on the NASA Mars Global Surveyor ("MGS") and 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft in orbit around Mars.^[11] The mineral was seen in abundance at two sites^[12] on the planet, the Terra Meridiani site, near the Martian equator at 0° longitude, and the second site Aram Chaos near the Valles Marineris.^[13] Several other sites also showed hematite, e.g., Aureum Chaos.^[14] Because terrestrial hematite is typically a mineral formed in aqueous environments, or by aqueous alteration, this detection was scientifically interesting enough that the second of the two Mars Exploration Rovers was targeted to a site in the Terra Meridiani region designated Meridiani Planum. In-situ investigations by the Opportunity rover showed a significant amount of hematite, much of it in the form of small spherules that were informally named "blueberries" by the science team. Analysis indicates that these spherules are apparently concretions formed from a water solution. "Knowing just how the hematite on Mars was formed will help us characterize the past environment and determine whether that environment was favorable for life," .. "One big question, of course, is whether life ever started on Mars. This mission probably won't tell us that, but it may well lead to future mission that can answer that question." ^[15]

See also[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hematite

• Abandoned Mine Research.
• Mars spheres image.
• Mars trench image showing a shiny texture of half-buried spheres (dark line is equipment shadow)
• Florence Mine, Cumbria, UK.
• MineralData.org

Christian Louboutin (pronounced [kʁis.tjɑ̃ lu.bu.tɛ̃]; b. 7 January 1963) is a French footwear designer whose footwear has incorporated shiny, red-lacquered soles that have become his signature.^[1]

Personal life[link]

Louboutin was born in Paris and grew up in Paris's 12th arrondissement. He was the only son of Roger, an ébéniste,^[2] and Irene, a homemaker, and he has three sisters. He was expelled from school three times and ran away from home at the age of 12,^[3] at which point his indulgent mother allowed him to move out to live at a friend's house.^[4] Although Louboutin faced much opposition following his decision to leave school early, he claims that his resolve was strengthened after watching an interview on TV with Sophia Loren in which she introduced her sister, saying she had to leave school when she was only 12, but, when she turned 50, she got her degree. He later remarked, "Everybody applauded! And I thought, 'Well, at least if I regret it I'm going to be like the sister of Sophia Loren!'"

Landscape architect Louis Benech has been his partner since 1997. Louboutin and his partner spend time between their homes in Paris’s 1st arrondissement,^[5] a fisherman's cottage in Lisbon,^[6] a palace in Aleppo,^[7] a houseboat on the Nile christened Dahabibi-my love boat, and a house in Luxor. The Luxor domicile is a former craftsman’s workshop, made of earthen bricks, to which he has added an additional floor and a rooftop belvedere.^[8] Additionally, he also shares a 13th-century castle in the Vendée with his business partner Bruno Chamberlain.^[4]

Louboutin claims that his unusual pastimes include trapeze flying, inspired by the film Wings of Desire, and that inspirations come from showgirls and music halls — not fashion (or la mode), which he asserts becomes quickly dated.

Career[link]

Christian Louboutin Ltd.

Type	Private,S.A
Industry	Consumer goods
Founded	1991
Headquarters	Paris, France
Key people	Christian Louboutin, Founder Bruno Chamberland, CEO[9] Alexis Mourot, COO & GM[9] Priya Mohindra,U.S Communications Director[10]
Products	Shoes,Purses,Wallets
Revenue	$250 million (31 December 2010) on 600,000 pairs of shoes a year[11]
Employees	420 (2011) [4]
Website	christianlouboutin.com

He began sketching shoes in his early teens, ignoring his academic studies. Going through a punk phase, he was in a few films, including 1979 cult classic Race d'ep. Under the title The Homosexual Century, a film which attracted an English-language audience. His first job was at the Folies Bergères, the caberet where he assisted the entertainers backstage. He was also a fixture on the city's party scene, clubbing his nights away alongside Mick Jagger and Andy Warhol.^[4]

His little formal training included drawing and the decorative arts at the Académie d'Art Roederer. Louboutin claims his fascination with shoes began in 1976 when he visited the Musée national des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie on the avenue Daumesnil. It was there that he saw a sign from Africa forbidding women wearing sharp stilettos from entering a building for fear of damage to the extensive wood flooring. This image stayed in his mind, and he later used this idea in his designs. "I wanted to defy that," Louboutin said. "I wanted to create something that broke rules and made women feel confident and empowered."^[12]

Fascinated by world cultures, he ran away in his teens to Egypt and spent a year in India. Louboutin returned to Paris in 1981, where he assembled a portfolio of drawings of elaborate high heels. He brought it to the top couture houses. The effort resulted in employment with Charles Jourdan. Subsequently, Louboutin met Roger Vivier, who claims to have invented the stiletto, or spiked-heel shoe. Louboutin became an apprentice in Vivier's atelier.

Going on to serve as a freelance designer, Louboutin designed women's shoes for Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, and Maud Frizon. In the late 1980s, he gave turned away from fashion to become a landscape gardener and to contribute to Vogue but missed working with shoes and set up his company in 1991.

With funds from two backers, he opened a Paris shoe salon in 1991 with Princess Caroline of Monaco as his first customer. She complimented the store one day when a fashion journalist was present, and the journalist's subsequent publication of Princess's comments helped greatly to increase Louboutin's renown. Clients such as Diane von Fürstenberg and Catherine Deneuve followed. Later, those interested in his stiletto heels have included Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kim Kardashian. Sarah Jessica Parker wore a pair of shoes by Louboutin for her wedding.

Louboutin has topped the Luxury Institute's annual Luxury Brand Status Index (LBSI) for three years; the brand's offerings were declared the Most Prestigious Women's Shoes in 2007, 2008, and 2009.^[13][14][15]

Shoes[link]

Louboutin helped bring stilettos back into fashion in the 1990s and 2000s, designing dozens of styles with heel heights of 120mm (4.72 inches) and higher. The designer's professed goal has been to "make a woman look sexy, beautiful, to make her legs look as long as [he] can." While he does offer some lower-heeled styles, Louboutin is generally associated with his dressier evening-wear designs incorporating jeweled straps, bows, feathers, patent leather, and other similar decorative touches.^[16] Despite being known for his celebrity clients, he rarely gives shoes away – offering discounts instead to his high-profile fans. This policy also extends to his personal family, because he feels that giving shoes away as gifts is unimaginative.^[17]

His single biggest client is Danielle Steel, who is reputed to own over 6,000 pairs and is known to have purchased up 80 pairs at a time when shopping at his stores.^[18]

Christian Louboutin vs. Yves Saint Laurent[link]

In 2011, Christian Louboutin company filed a trademark infringement of its red-soled shoes against designer Yves Saint Laurent.^[19] The firm is expecting that the YSL shoe design will be revoked and is seeking US $1 million in damages.^[20] However, in August 2011, U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero denied the firm's request to stop the sale of women's shoes with red soles by Yves Saint Laurent. The judge questioned the validity of the trademark, writing, "Louboutin's claim would cast a red cloud over the whole industry, cramping what other designers do, while allowing Louboutin to paint with a full palette."^[21] Judge Marrero also wrote, "Louboutin is unlikely to be able to prove its red outsole brand is entitled to trademark protection, even if it has gained enough public recognition in the market to have acquired secondary meaning."^[22] Jewelry company Tiffany & Co., which has its blue box trademarked, filed a amicus curiae brief focusing on trademarking a color. Fashion periodical WWD reported that Tiffany's brief supports Louboutin's appeal to reverse the decision made by Judge Marrero.^[23]

Boutiques[link]

The list of distributors and location of the stores can be found on the Christian Louboutin Web site. A new ladies boutique has been scheduled to open in Turkey in 2012.^[24]

In the spring of 2012,the company also plans to open its first men's store in New York City, boasting over 1,000 square feet of space and conveniently located next to its existing Horatio Street store.^[25] From previous experience in his Paris Store, Louboutin claimed that women feel uncomfortable when men stare at them while they try on shoes, hence a separate stores.^[26]

The first Louboutin Men's Boutique, Christian Louboutin Boutique Homme on Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau in Paris, opened in the summer of 2012.

Christian Louboutin Miami is located on 40th Street in the Design District of Miami, Florida.^[27] Louboutin chose to open a store in Miami because of the mix of businesses and the small urban scale, and because of his obvious following there. During Miami Basel art fair when the store opened in 2009, he said, "You don't get this with Europeans—but Americans actually come into my office in Paris to meet me, and a lot of those people are from Miami." The boutique stocks Louboutin's most colorful, strappy, precarious styles, on account of the subtropical climate and the fact that, Louboutin says, "people barely walk in the street."^[28]

The 2,400-square-foot space was designed by Eric Clough and 212box.^[28] Above a steel awning shaped like a Louboutin shoe in profile, with a red underside to boot, pink orchids sprout from the coral-stone facade. Still more orchids project from a wall in the entry gallery. Pantyhose have been recycled by Dutch artist Madeleine Berkhemer into a multi-colored sculpture that stretches over the empty concrete floor with some of Louboutin’s signature shoes dangling in the overhead tangle of nylon "like insects trapped in a psychedelic spider’s web."^[27] This L-shape space wraps two sides of a rectangular volume clad almost entirely in one-way mirror: a box that contains the merchandise for sale while allowing people who've just come in the front door to "witness other people falling in love with the shoes," Clough says.^[28]

The inside areas in the store are defined by lush red carpeting. Blue, blown-glass chandeliers hang from the ceilings.^[27] Hieroglyphics, symbols and Braille are carved onto wooden Codebox Tiles that line some of the store's interior walls.^[29] hiding the words of a poem by contemporary American poet Lyn Hejinian in plain sight, in the etched wooden tiles lining the gallery wall behind the orchids. "This is the way I / Want to go in and / Out of heaven... / Windows full at 5pm / My skull a place / Except that I think of space as the more exciting," the lines read.^[28] These coded tiles appear in many Louboutin stores designed by Clough around the world, including São Paulo, Brazil.

Fighting Fraud Online[link]

Branded genuine Louboutin shoes are sold in-store and online through various luxury goods retailers such as Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, Joseph, Browns, Matches, Cricket and Cruise and online through Net-A-Porter and The Outnet in the UK. Barneys, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman and Nordstrom sell genuine Louboutin in the US.

Online, the Louboutin brand is under constant attack from sellers of fakes and knock-offs. Louboutin's own website now sells some of their products online in the US^[30] but this is the only legitimate domain with the word Louboutin in it to do so. Louboutin's main website contains a prominent note stating that any other domain name containing the word "Louboutin" is very likely to be selling counterfeit goods.

In the last few years, the company has served hundreds of DMCA notices on Google to remove many sites selling fake goods from their search results.^[31] Even after this action, thousands of sites remain online.

The company has recently set up a separate website^[32] focused on protecting their brand, and detailing more than 3 000 websites that sell fake goods, many of which have been closed down. The site also contains summaries of legal actions taken, including raids on factories with photographs and videos of the mass destruction of counterfeit goods.

References[link]

Periodicals[link]

• Footwear News, 1 June 1992, p. S8; 9 December 2002, p. 50
• Harper's Bazaar, December 1999, p. 104; April 2001, p. 226
• Newsweek International, 24 February 2003, p. 48
• People, 10 February 2003, pp. 87–88
• Vogue, June 2004, p. 206

External links[link]

• Christian Louboutin Official Site (in English)
• Simpson, Aislinn (30 June 2008). "Christian Louboutin shoes top sexiness poll". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2221378/Christian-Louboutin-shoes-top-sexiness-poll.html. Retrieved 8 July 2008. 
• Armstrong, Lisa (5 July 2008). "How to get dressed: Christian Louboutin, the most wanted shoe brand". The Times (London). http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article4241482.ece. Retrieved 8 July 2008. 
• Christian Louboutin designer profile at Fashion Model Directory

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