See The Light: Diamond, Cubic Zirconia, and Moissanite

An April 2006 article in circulation on blogs entitled “Diamonds, Cubic Zirconia, and Moissanite: How They Differ”, written by Jill Renee, President of Danforth Diamond, is yet another awful article replete with misinformation about Charles & Colvard Created Moissanite. Rather than provide accurate information to readers and jewelry shoppers who want an honest comparison between these 3 popular jewels, she diminishes moissanite as being merely another “diamond simulant” in the marketplace. Ms. Renee falsely links moissanite to the quality level of cubic zirconia (CZ), and she dismisses moissanite's many superior qualities in her inaccurate comparison of it to diamonds.

Ms. Renee doesn't try to disguise her enthusiastic promotion of diamonds. She starts her article with the following remark:

"Diamonds are known for their sparkle and brilliance making them popular in jewelry as their shine is unmatched by any other gemstone."

But here are the facts that prove this statement to be false. A quick look at the jewel elements comparison chart (shown below) is available on Charles & Colvard's company web site. This same chart is also widely displayed on the web sites of top moissanite retailers throughout the Internet and in print. As a near-colorless jewel, moissanite has more brilliance, luster, and 2½ times the fire than diamonds, and it leaves all other gemstones in the dust. Therefore Ms. Renee's claim that “[a diamond's] shine is unmatched by any other gemstone”, is completely absurd by any optical measures.

Ms. Renee continues her mischaracterization of moissanite in her article:

"Cubic zirconia and moissanite are two of these that are popular in jewelry. Both are diamond simulants meaning non-diamond materials are used to create them and simulate the properties of a real diamond."

The aim of Ms. Renee's belittlement of moissanite is to merge and confuse the image of this fine jewel with that of CZ, an established fashion jewelry diamond simulant. Moissanite is not a diamond simulant. Instead moissanite has been designated as a unique gemstone with it's own category in fine jewelry, and it is widely acknowledged to possess the most desirable properties that out perform all other jewels. The picture below illustrates the physical and optical differences between moissanite, diamond, and CZ. It is clear that CZ is a diamond simulant. You can clearly see how moissanite's properties exceed a diamond in the 4C's measurements that are traditionally used by buyers to evaluate fine jewelry. See the light for yourself.

Then Ms. Renee contradicts her earlier assertion of diamond's superiorities, with the following remark:

"Moissanites[sic] are more refractive than diamonds meaning they shine more brilliantly making this one of the easiest ways to tell it is not a diamond."

While not admitting that moissanite exceeds diamonds in brilliance and luster, Ms. Renee's comments are obviously meant to leave a negative conclusion. Experienced diamond jewelers have been unable to distinguish between moissanite from the best quality diamonds (ideal cut, few inclusions, near-colorless) that are put before their “expert” eyes. The positive identification of moissanite requires the use of special testers to tell the difference, but moissanite appearance is more beautiful than diamonds.

On the topic of hardness Ms. Renee suggests the following:

"Because of their hardness, diamonds are also used to cut and wear away other substances and are used for industrial purposes in drills, saws and engraving tools. ... A moissanite is not as hard as a diamond but is harder than a cubic zirconia and it weighs less than a CZ."

Ms. Renee ignores the durability of moissanite. While not as hard as a diamond, moissanite is second to diamonds in hardness, and so hard that it is used as anvils by MIT. In addition Ms. Renee does not inform her readers that moissanite is more resistant to heat than diamonds. This is certainly another plus for buyers, when it comes to setting or re-setting their stones into jewelry pieces.

In her closing, Ms. Renee is determined to maintain her false association of moissanite with CZ to also leave the reader with a false impression of diamond's superiority.

"Both cubic zirconia and moissanite have a close visual resemblance to diamonds – they offer the luster and fire of diamonds while being mostly colorless and can be cut in the same shapes as diamonds. In jewelry making cubic zirconia and moissanite are not as popular so they are harder to find in specific cuts and are not regularly found in jewelry stores or traditional online jewelry sellers."

Moissanite is a fine jewel having luster and fire that exceeds all jewels and any association to CZ is at best, ignorance, and otherwise slanderous. Ms. Renee comes from a family of diamond jewelers with 50 years of experience in the diamond business. She misuses her professional standing and her bias toward diamond jewelry to write an article mischaracterizing moissanite to an unwitting public. From her comments, Ms. Renee will be surprised to find that moissanite is offered by fine jewelry retailers across the country and around the world and by 4,000 independent jewelers.