Difference between CZ n Diamonds

What are CZ stones Difference Between Diamonds, Synthetic Diamonds, And Cubic Zirconia

" A diamond is forever", an ad campaign by De Beers in 1938 is considered as the most successful Ad in the history of jewelry ads as it changed the perception of diamonds. It’s no longer for only the royals and the elite, even the common people can have the feel of it. Today, diamonds represent love and faithfulness. Diamond engagement rings hold a special meaning and symbolizes commitment. It’s a green signal of the opening of the next chapter in the life of two people who are in love.

There is an ever growing demand for diamond engagement rings and diamond jewelry. Today, there is a diminishing supply of diamonds that makes it extremely expensive. For those who cannot afford the real diamonds, there are less expensive substitutes that have the similar fire and sparkle as their original counterpart. Karatcraft has put together the differences of the real diamonds and its substitutes.

Real diamonds

• These are naturally occurring stones formed deep inside the earth. This gemstone is composed of carbon atoms with a hardness rating of 10 on Mohs scale.
• The price of the diamonds depends on the Carat, Cut, Color as well as Clarity. They are known as the four Cs of diamonds. As a buyer you need to be aware, it’s very difficult to procure colorless diamonds without any flaws. Diamonds with minor defects or impurities have a slight tinge of brown or yellow.
• Diamonds have a dispersion of 0.044 and a high refractive index of 2.417. The separation of the color spectrum is called dispersion. Diamond is also the best and natural thermals conductor and also an electrical insulator. The specific gravity of diamond is between 3.5 and 3.53.

To meet the ever growing market requirement, synthetic diamonds were cultured in the laboratory. Though they may look similar to a diamond in appearance. They do not take the properties of the naturally occurring real diamonds.

Synthetic diamonds

• Also known as cultured diamonds was introduced in the 1950s. Synthetic diamonds are developed from a single crystal using a method known as chemical vapor deposition.
• In this technique, cultured crystals are placed in a chamber through which gases methane and hydrogen are passed at high pressure as well as heat. This results in in the deposits of the gases on the diamond crystals that turn steadily aids in the growth of diamonds.
• Recent development in this technology has resulted in producing cultured diamonds that are similar in hardness, gravity, chemical composition, refraction and dispersion to the top quality mined diamonds.
• However, the manmade synthetic diamonds can be identified through infrared, spectroscopy, ultraviolet or X-ray wave lengths.
• While the one carat of high quality diamonds would cost thousands of rupees, the cultured or synthetic diamonds would be much cheaper.
• These diamonds are similar to real diamonds but are lab produced while the real diamonds are mined.

Cubic Zirconia

Also referred to as CZ is made of Zirconium dioxide. This is a popular substitute to diamond and to an untrained eye cubic zirconia looks identical to diamonds. Though it was discovered in the late 19th century, it was used in the jewelry making industry only in the 1970s.

The hardness of CZ has a hardness of 8 on the Mohs scale.

The refraction index is 2.176 while the dispersion is 0.060.

The gravity is somewhere between 5.6 and 6.0. This means its 1.6 times heavier than the weight of a diamond.

Though its less sparkly than the mined diamonds, the prismatic fire that is more.

These stones are good thermal conductors compared to the diamonds. That is, they cannot withstand the heat like diamonds.

Again, they are brittle compared to diamonds and are easily chipped or scratched if not handled with care.

If you are looking for genuine diamonds, then it’s wise to buy them from a reputed dealer. Ensure that you get the diamond certification from them. However, all the stones similar to the mined diamonds will add to the sparkle of your jewelry piece.

Swarovski crystals are also steadily gaining popularity and is known to be increasingly used in stone studded gold jewelry. Keep watching this space to know more about Swarovski stones.