Synthetic Moissanite – A Diamond Imitant
By Rubina Posh October 16,2017
Image courtesy of pixabay.com
There are many gemstones that are used to imitate diamonds, but the two most commonly used are Synthetic Moissanite and Cubic Zirconia.
A solitaire ring featuring a 1.00ct round gemstone six-claw set in 14ct White Gold equivalent to an F colour will vary in price depending on the gemstone.
If the ring is set with a Synthetic Moissanite, it will average around AU$1000.00 The same ring set with a Cubic Zirconia will average around AU$500.00 and one set with a diamond will average around AU$10,500.00
What is Synthetic Moissanite?
Moissanite and Synthetic Moissanite are two different gemstones.
Moissanite is a naturally occurring mineral discovered in 1893 by Henri Moissan.
Synthetic Moissanite is a gemstone created in the United States in 1997 and in 1998 patented as the best diamond imitator since Cubic Zirconia. To find out more about the creators Charles and Colvard visit their website www.charlesandcolvard.com.
When Synthetic Moissanite was created it was green in colour. Over the years it’s been perfected to near colourless. Today the two most commonly colours available are near colourless and black and is available in all sizes and shapes.
Most jewellery experts are able to separate this gem by using a loupe (x10 magnification) as well as the latest moissanite testers.
Recently two instruments (The GIA iD100 and the SYNTHdetect) have been created which can separate natural diamonds from all synthetics and imitants. To find out more about these two instruments check out our article Synthetic Diamonds and How to Identify Them.