Moissanite rings: Moissanites are forever
Moissanite rings are fast becoming a popular jewelry item. This is because of their dazzling diamond like beauty and exquisite brilliance. These rings are now seen as a worthy substitute for diamond rings, so much so that they are being used as engagement and wedding rings. A great advantage of moissanite is that they are less expensive compared to diamonds. As a serious diamond substitute, moissanite is seen as a better alternative to cubic zirconias. Moissanite is a relatively new entrant to the jewelry world. It was only discovered in its natural state a hundred years ago. As a serious jewelry stone it only started to be used around 10 years ago.
A brief history of Moissanite
Another name for moissanite is Silicon carbide which is a mixture of silicon and carbon. It is very rare to find silicon carbide in nature, hence Silicon carbide is usually man made. This material was first used for industrial purposes such as car brakes and even bullet proof vests because of its high resilient nature. It is this material that is made into gem quality moissanite by the Charles and Covard Company. This means that all moissanite used for jewelry is man made. Naturally occurring moissanite is not suitable for jewelry. In the jewelry world it can be known as synthetic moissanite or just moissanite.
As mentioned earlier, moissanite is a popular substitute for diamonds. It is transparent and hard like a diamond and has a similar refractive index. In fact it is so similar to diamonds it takes devices using ultraviolet light to tell the difference between the two. Most Thermal diamond testing devices can get fooled by moissanite.
A moissanite rings centerpiece is always a synthetically produced gemstone. For those people who are not bothered by that then they can own a ring that has even more fire and brilliance than a diamond ring, for much less the cost. Part of the reason why moissanite has such an incredible brilliance is because of a phenomenon known as double refraction. This is something only the top quality gemstones will have.
As mentioned before moissanite is a relatively new gemstone in this industry. The oldest stone may not be much older than 10 years. But that has not deterred the growth and popularity of this stone. If one were to look at the growth in sales it is one of the hottest and happening gemstone on the market today. By all accounts if this trend continues moissanite rings may overtake diamond rings in popularity.
As far as metals used to make rings, white gold seems to be the most popular. The silver like color of white gold seems to go very well with moissanite. Other precious metals such as yellow gold and platinum are also widely used to make moissanite rings. A combination of different stones such as amethyst with moissanite or sapphire with moissanite can be a stunning combination. No matter how you look at it, the future looks very bright for moissanite rings