| Natural mined diamonds have been coming under a lot | | | | known as "hexagonal polytypic." What this means is |
| of heat recently. Award-winning journalist Cecil Adams | | | | that moissanite is doubly-refractive. And because of |
| sums it up the best in a recent article: "diamonds are a | | | | this they create a strong visual effect known as |
| scam, pure and simple." Most people in the new | | | | "birefringence." This is visually seen as a doubling of the |
| millennium understand that between the DeBeers | | | | stone's back facets that creates a marked |
| diamond cartel, the issue of child labor in Third World | | | | "drunk-vision" effect. |
| diamond processing operations, and "blood diamonds" | | | | Dispersion |
| used to finance oppression and genocide in Third | | | | Moissanite has a dispersive power nearly 2.5 times |
| World African countries, not to mention your snooty | | | | greater than that of diamond. This creates what's |
| and pretentious local jeweler, diamonds are just not | | | | known as the "disco-ball" effect. Some think that this |
| worth the hassle, guilt, and let's not forget thousands | | | | excess fire is beautiful; others think it cheap and fake |
| and thousands of questionably spent dollars. | | | | looking. |
| Lately, new synthetic diamonds have come on the | | | | Color |
| market that have all of the look, appeal, and glittering | | | | It is impossible to produce a pure white moissanite. The |
| beauty of natural diamonds, but without the baggage, | | | | stones have a quality known as "fluorescence" that |
| and at a fraction of the cost. | | | | causes them to appear slightly green or gray. This |
| Since moissanite burst upon the scene in the late 90s, | | | | effect is much greater under natural light. In the jewelry |
| it has created quite a stir. Moissanite is gem-quality | | | | store a moissanite dealer will always show the stones |
| silicon carbide. The production of moissanite is a | | | | under a pink tinged light, as this tends to cancel out the |
| proprietary process and it is available only from C3 Inc, | | | | fluorescence. Many people say they loved their |
| a division of Cree Research. | | | | moissanite ring until they got it into the sunlight. |
| When moissanite was first introduced to the market it | | | | Cost |
| created a great deal of publicity. This was due to the | | | | Due to its relatively extensive manufacturing process |
| fact that moissanite would often fool a jeweler into | | | | and the fact that it is only available from one source, |
| thinking it was a natural diamond. Both the Nova and | | | | moissanite tends to be quite expensive (though still |
| 20/20 TV news shows did segments featuring hidden | | | | cheap when compared to diamonds) good quality |
| cameras showing jewelers fooled and embarrassed | | | | moissanite stones run around $520 per caret. |
| by moissanite. What was actually happening though | | | | Better Synthetic Diamond Alternatives |
| was not quite so simple. | | | | In the last two years there have been almost |
| Jewelers generally rely on something called a | | | | miraculous breakthroughs in the science of synthetic |
| "thermal-probe" to detect a fake diamond. Thermal | | | | diamond creation. There are several new processes |
| probes work well with cubic zirconia, for instance. | | | | that create gemstones that are virtually |
| Moissanite, however, has a thermal conductivity that is | | | | indistinguishable from natural diamonds. One of the |
| very close to diamond. They were able to fool the | | | | best I have found are the gemstones available from I |
| older thermal probes. The fact of the matter is though; | | | | recently did independent research for several synthetic |
| moissanite really just does not look that much like | | | | diamond companies and found their products to be |
| diamond. The two substances have radically different | | | | among the best. |
| optical properties. These differences are clearly visible | | | | Diamond Nexus gemstones cut glass, they have |
| to the naked eye. It was obvious in both the Nova and | | | | brilliance, dispersion and radiance factors that are very |
| 20/20 segments that the jewelers were clearly | | | | close to mined diamond, and best of all, as they are |
| confused. They kept looking at the stone and then | | | | new in the US market, they are priced at an incredible |
| testing at and saying things like, "Well, I guess it must | | | | $79 per caret. This is a bargain that probably will not |
| be real." What they were really saying is "Well, I guess | | | | last. |
| it must be real, but it sure is a weird looking diamond!" | | | | Conclusion |
| Problems with Moissanite as a Diamond Stimulant | | | | Moissanite stones are beautiful in their own right. They |
| Anisotropy | | | | offer great sparkle and flash. However, if you truly are |
| Unlike natural diamonds, or some of the better quality | | | | trying to purchase a gemstone that comes as close |
| synthetic diamonds like those available from Diamond | | | | as possible to the properties of a natural diamond |
| Nexus Labs, ( moissanite stones have an optical quality | | | | moissanite is not the best choice. |