Moissanite Education
Learn all about moissanite and their cost effective beauty
HISTORY
Moissanite was first discovered in 1893 by Dr. Henri Moissan, a French scientist, who the gemstone was then named after. He discovered the microscopic particles in an Arizonan crater that was created by a meteorite.
Initially, he thought he’d found diamonds but then came to learn that they were crystals, made up of silicon carbide. Natural moissanite is especially rare, making most of today’s moissanite stones lab-created.
MANUFACTURING
It wasn’t until the late 90’s that scientists figured out how to create moissanite.
Moissanites are man-made gems, made up of silicon carbide crystals. These crystals are then fashioned together into moissanite gemstones. This process takes anywhere from two to three months to create one moissanite stone.
All of our moissanite rings come with a Limited Lifetime Warranty that applies to purchases that are 4mm in size or larger. The terms of the Limited Lifetime Warranty include a warranty against defects in the material and workmanship of the gems.
Attributes
BRILLIANCE
Brilliance is the amount of light that shines off the stone. The most significant optical property affecting a gemstone’s brilliance, or sparkle, is the refractive index or RI. The RI of moissanite ranges from 2.65 to 2.69, meaning it displays more brilliance than diamond (with an RI of 2.42) or any other popular gemstone.
FIRE DISPERSION
A gemstone’s fire is determined by a gemological property called dispersion. Dispersion refers to the prism effect that occurs when pure white light enters a non-opaque object, breaks into spectral (rainbow) colors, and reflects back to the viewer. Moissanite’s dispersion is 0.104, which exceeds that of any gemstone, including diamond, ruby, sapphire, and emerald.
HARDNESS AND TOUGHNESS
Moissanite is durable, tough, and extremely resistant to scratching and abrasion. With a hardness of 9.25-9.50, moissanite is harder than all other gemstones except diamond.
Moissanite exhibits more heat resistance than many other gemstones, including diamond. Tests prove that at 2,000ºF–higher than the equivalent intensity of a house fire–moissanite gems remain intact and as brilliant as the day they were created. This heat tolerance makes moissanite unlikely to suffer damage during jewelry repair.
HARDNESS AND TOUGHNESS
Moissanite is durable, tough, and extremely resistant to scratching and abrasion. With a hardness of 9.25-9.50, moissanite is harder than all other gemstones except diamond.
Moissanite exhibits more heat resistance than many other gemstones, including diamond. Tests prove that at 2,000ºF–higher than the equivalent intensity of a house fire–moissanite gems remain intact and as brilliant as the day they were created. This heat tolerance makes moissanite unlikely to suffer damage during jewelry repair.