What About Moissanite for Your Engagement Ring?

By Port City Jewelers

www.portcityjewelers.com

Moissanite Passed the Sparkle Test

Do Moissanites and Engagement Rings Mix?

Read on and find out. What is this post about?

I’ll give you the history, what it is, a laboratory grown material, the pro’s and con’s of Moissanite, and the advice on how best to select and buy it should you choose to go down the Moissanite path.

The Crater Moissanite was Found in.

Who Discovered Moissanite?

Moissanite was discovered by French chemist, Henri Moissan, in a crater in Arizona in 1893.

At first, he thought he’d found diamonds. It wasn’t until later that he identified the mineral as silicon carbide.

That was a seriously unsexy name. Which no doubt, was why it was changed to Moissanite in honor of its discoverer.

For more about Moissanite from our friends at EHow.

Does an Amateur Rock Hound Stand a Chance of Finding His Own Moissanite?

Naturally occurring moissanite is rare on Earth. So much so, that unless you have your own space ship and access to an asteroid belt, your only commercial alternative are lab grown stones. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

A Piece of laboratory grown Black Moissanite

What are Moissanite’s Properties?

Depending on which scientific publication you read, Moissanite has a hardness of anywhere from 9.2 to 9.25 on the Mohs scale, putting it closer to ruby and sapphire at 9, than diamond—at the top of scale—at 10.0.

This means that it is a pretty hard stone and that, unlike softer, more scratch-able CZ, it isn’t going to scratch as much and look dull on your twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.

Moissanite also shows good fire and sparkle as well as typically having good clarity. The company that makes it has a policy of only selling VS Clarity and above. So you probably don’t need to look at one under a loupe to know it has good clarity.

As for color this is where you have to decide if you can settle for possibly less than ideal whiteness. 

“However, you need to know that Moissanite cannot compare in color to a colorless diamond. Moissanite has a slightly darker (approximately H-K color) but really cannot be differentiated from a diamond in the same setting. You might be able to see a difference in color if you compared loose Moissanite stones and loose diamond stones.”

In some stones, very slight shades of green or yellow are apparent.

How Much Does Moissanite Cost?

Moissanite costs considerably less than diamonds. While a one carat diamond might cost $5,000, a similarly sized moissanite might only set you back $700.

Be aware, though, that while diamond size is measured by weight (in carats), Moissanite is usually measured in millimeters. This is because their weights are different. For this reason you’d want to order a 6.5mm Moissanite to get one similar in size to 1ct diamond.

Is Moissanite Suitable for Wedding Rings?

It depends.

Inspecting the Laboratory Results.

If you’re a purist and insist on a traditional, naturally occurring gemstone for your wedding ring, diamonds are the way to go. Moissanites are lab grown.

Natural diamonds take millions of years to form and could be said to be part of the history of the planet. Moissanites haven’t been around for quite so long. In fact, the particular one you’re looking at might have only been around since last Tuesday.

Diamonds are relatively expensive compared to Moissanites. If you want a larger stone but can’t afford the former, you might get the latter. Down the line, if you decide you want to switch the Moissanite for a diamond, by all means, do so. Swapping one gemstone for another is common and easy to do.

Three Reasons People might Not Buy Moissanite even though It’s Cheaper and Hard Enough to Sustain a Lifetime of Wear and Brilliance!!

There are three reasons why people might choose a diamond first:

1. Diamonds are the symbol of everlasting love and Moissanite isn’t. So you’d be letting everyone think it’s a diamond because it acts like one. That might get to kind of bug you if all your friends have a diamond and you just pretend you have a diamond. Like you maybe have a hollow symbol of love.

2. One day your kids will get your wedding rings and they might be bummed to find out that it’s not a valuable diamond. If they ever need money in an emergency, that Moissanite will not get it for them. It’s just not valuable like a diamond is.

3. If you are a guy and you decide to get your girlfriend an engagement ring with the size of stone she wants and the design she wants and you put in a Moissanite, because that’s all you can afford, well she’s going to find out. And that could get ugly.

This Chart Compares Different Gemstones in Hardness and Brilliance

The Six Right Ways to do Moissanite

1. If you are going to use Moissanite, ask your girlfriend if she’s OK with that. That takes care of reason number three.

2. Look at the Moissanite gem your jeweler is going to set in your engagement ring before it is set. As I mentioned earlier they can have a slight greenish or yellowish cast to them.  However Charles & Colvard does now sell a Forever Brilliant Stone which is white in color and also has a "Ideal" cut quality to them making them VERY BRILLIANT with LOTS OF FIRE!!!!

3. Compare your Moissanite side by side to a diamond of a G color. Make sure you are comfortable with the difference in color of that Moissanite.

If you do end up with a slightly greenish Moissanite and I see your fiancé on the street, I will know that is a Moissanite.

4. Look at the Moissanite under normal, ugly light, and outdoor light, not just a bright store diamond light that makes any stone look amazing.

5. Do not choose an emerald cut shape as that magnifies the presence of an off color look in the Moissanite gem. I like the round brilliant cut best as it minimizes the off-color look.

6. Moissanites over a 2ct. size can, because of their larger size, show that off-color aspect more. So either go with a smaller size or double check that you like the color before having it set.

JCK Magazine recently published an article about how Moissanite is whiter now due to a newer technology.

Hells Bells; Sources for Moissanite

See our website www.portcityjewelers.com to buy Moissanite.

Or call me to see Moissanite and discuss it as a choice.

Now you know what Moissanite is!