We often have questions from our customers about what moissanite is. You can head over to the blog here to read a bit about moissanite. We would like to go a bit deeper into how it is compared to a diamond. Which is better? Is it worth choosing a moissanite over a diamond, or are you better off with purchasing a diamond? Read on to find out.
What is Moissanite?
Natural moissanite is a mineral which was discovered from a meteorite sample by French scientist Henry Moissan dating back to 1893. Moissanite is so similar to diamond that he thought the crystals he found were diamonds.
Moissanite in natural form is extremely rare and is known to be there only on meteorites and rocks in the earth crust. So, all the moissanite in jewellery is lab created to produce the sparkle that can match a diamond. The first company that has created moissanite in a lab for commercial purposes was Charles & Colvard who held a patent to sell moissanites till 2015.
Unlike stones like Cubic Zirconia (CZ), also popularly called as American Diamonds, moissanite is the closest one to diamond. So close that, it is often mistaken to be diamond unless tested by an expert.
However, moissanite is only a simulant to diamond, but It is a gemstone in its own way and both diamond and moissanite or distinct. Even if they look similar, they are completely different gemstones. Moissanite comes only second to diamond in hardness, and it is more sparkly.
Now that you have an idea of what a moissanite is, let us compare it with a diamond on some of the important properties.
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Property |
Moissanite Vs Diamond |
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Durability |
Diamond are one of the hardest natural substances and their hardness is measureson Mohs scale. On this scale, diamonds rank at 10. Moissanites are a closed second with a rank of 9.25 on Mohs scale of hardness. So, when it comes to durability, they are as hard and as durable as diamonds. This makes them very ideal for daily wear as they are usually scratch resistant and do not lose their sparkle if cared well. |
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Colour and Appearance |
As mentioned in this blog here, moissanite is close in appearance with diamond that it is hard to distinguish them with naked eye. Having said that, it is not that they cannot be differentiated. The fire of a moissanite is different to diamond, which flashes of rainbow effect under natural light. |
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Brilliance |
A continuation of the previous point, the next is the comparison of moissanite’s brilliance with a diamond. The fire and brilliance of a diamond can be understood the Refractive Index (RI) they display. Moissanites have a higher RI of 2.65 compared to a diamond’s 2.4. This makes moissanite more brilliant and sparkly than a diamond. |
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Colour |
As mentioned in this blog here, moissanite is close in appearance with diamond that it is hard to distinguish them with naked eye. Having said that, it is not that they cannot be differentiated. The fire of a moissanite is different to diamond, which flashes of rainbow effect under natural light. |
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Clarity
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Clarity refers to how clear the gemstones are after removing the imperfection. Most of the moissanites are nearly flawless which can be identified as VVS (very very slightly flawless). A diamond of the same clarity. i.e flawless diamonds which are labelled as VVS, are very rare and are also very expensive. Moissanite is a clear winner in this category. A moissanite with similar clarity of a VVS diamond comes at 1/8th of the price! |
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Price |
A same size moissanite costs just a fraction of what a diamond cost. A similar sized moissanite appears same as a diamond, sparkles better, and costs extremely less compared to the diamond. For example, a 1 carat moissanite costs only Rs 8000 compared to a 1 carat lab grown diamond’s Rs 80,000 |
Vai Ra is an exclusive store for brilliant cut moissanites. Explore the modern designs of exquisitely made moissanite jewellery. All Vai Ra's moissanites come with Forever One standard grade - DEF-VVS.