Again, on the color chart, we are seeking to find a diamond that appears colorless to the naked eye. The more colorless the diamond, the more valuable it is. When choosing a diamond stone for our jewelry, we will often seek the most colorless diamond we can find. Often you can achieve this flawless look with a diamond of a VS2 clarity grade or higher. What this means is that there may be inclusion present but they are almost invisible to the naked eye and would need a loupe (magnification tool) to really see any impurities. When searching for a diamond stone, however, you are best to look for one that is seemingly flawless to the naked eye. Weighing and comparing the two together on a set of scales will easily and quickly determine which one is which.ĭespite this appearing to be a stand out feature of the CZ, to some it can appear fake-looking and evades its synthetic production. You might be surprised to learn that where the cubic zirconia falls short on hardness and brilliance, it is a slightly heavier stone than the diamond. Despite this, it does mean that stone may lack longevity and is more prone to scratches over time. 💡Due to the cubic zirconia’s synthetic nature, it is perhaps more durable than some might think and can certainly handle itself. It might come as no surprise that the champion stone that is the diamond sits at the top of the scale, rating a solid 10 for durability.Ĭubic zirconia sits lower down on the scale and ranks at an 8.5, which is below that of its corundum friends, the ruby and sapphire, which place second at a comfortable 9. Mohs scale of hardness allows us to determine the durability and resilience of a stone. Size is not really an influencing factor here, a bigger cubic zirconia does not likely have more fire and brilliance than a smaller stone. When we are discussing beauty and brilliance we are simply speaking of the sparkle and fire.īrilliance would be the clean, bright sparkle we see when white light is reflected among the facets of the stone whereas fire is a term used when we are discussing the colored light reflected. Here we go!🏂🏻 Beauty and Brillianceīeauty and brilliance are perhaps two of the most important factors that we look for when buying a precious diamond. In this section, we are going to look at six different elements of each stone that can help differentiate between the two. These can help us distinguish between the two different types of colorless stone and can help us understand why we might choose one over the other.
CUBIC ZIRCONIA SOLITAIRE RING HOW TO
Diamonds: How to tell the difference?Īlright, so we’ve been told that although cubic zirconia and a diamond can be seemingly indistinguishable, there are some pretty large differences between the two.
*Data source: Wikipedia Cubic zirconia vs. The cubic zirconia can be "doped" with other elements to change the color and offer a variety of alternative hues. They are then cut and shaped for maximum fire and brilliance. By melting zirconium oxide powder with stabilizers like magnesium and calcium under hours of heat exposure at over 3000 degrees, the crystals are removed and left to develop.
The cubic zirconia is a synthesized material that is hard and often colorless. This was years after the discovery of the natural form of the cubic zirconia! Almost 90 years and many opportunities overlooked, the cubic zirconia finally had its day. It wasn’t until 1977 when Russian scientists were able to grow these crystals using a synthetic process, that they began to be marketed as simulated crystals. Unfortunately, they didn’t know what to do with this seemingly "useless" information. When the zirconium oxide is melted down, it contains cube-shaped crystals. 1937 found German mineralogists making an important discovery in the development of the CZ we have come to know today. Indeed, this incredibly durable mineral was overlooked in its initial stages. Over time, the stone took a journey of being something of little value, to being used as a less expensive material for industrial applications and lasers, to the substitute for diamonds that we know it to be today. In 1892 zirconium oxide, the natural form of cubic zirconia was discovered and had a yellow hue that we don’t often see in our CZ's any longer. However, the story of the cubic zirconia started long before this. Swarovski created this abbreviated term for cubic zirconia during the 1980s when the jewelry marketplace sought out diamond substitutes as they became ever more fashionable.
Cubic Zirconia will often be abbreviated to "CZ" for ease and we have our good friends over at Swarovski to thank for that.
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