Moissanite: Scam? Creative Marketing? Gem? or Just Spin?? (Well, 3 out of 4 are correct!)

Which is the real diamond? The CZ? Moissanite?  Find out below!

Moissanite is really being pushed online, including on etsy.  Etsy featured these as "the" choice for diamond-alternative engagement rings recently.   With various "diamond simulants" out there, including colorless white sapphire (which is a precious gemstone) and colorless white topaz, plus CZ which provides the closest "look" of a diamond, I can't understand why etsy would push Moissanite.  Maybe they just don't know what it is, and believe the hype?  Or the falsehoods about it being "natural"?   Maybe they (like a lot of consumers) believe that "expensive equals quality"??  There's no excuse in 2013 to NOT know what a stone like Moissanite is.   You can read about it here!

What IS Moissanite?

Actual Moissanite was a naturally occurring mineral, silicon carbide (SiC). In 1893, Henri Moissan discovered minute silicone carbide crystals in a 50,000-year-old meteor crater in Arizona, and the crystalline substance was named after him. However — there are almost no supplies of this mineral on earth.  In fact, if you gathered ALL the real moissanite, there wouldn't be enough to make a pair of stud earrings.  Moissanite didn't appear in jewelry for another one hundred years when labs were producing this (for industrial purposes).  Today, virtually  all moissanite used in today's jewelry is lab-grown.

But what is silicon carbide (SiC)?  Per Encyclopaedia Britannica:

silicon carbide,  exceedingly hard, synthetically produced crystalline compound of silicon and carbon. Its chemical formula is SiC. Since the late 19th century silicon carbide has been an important material for sandpapers, grinding wheels, and cutting tools. More recently, it has found application in refractory linings and heating elements for industrial furnaces, in wear-resistant parts for pumps and rocket engines, and in semiconducting substrates for light-emitting diodes (LED).

So, is it a gem or not?

Moissanite is a diamond simulant---it looks like a diamond, but isn't. It was cheap to produce and looked enough like diamond to attract customers who wanted diamond but couldn't afford it (or who were fooled because they couldn't tell the difference). It looked enough like diamond to fool even some jewelers.

Nothing about moissanite has changed over the past years.  It is still just a diamond simulant, meaning it looks like a diamond.  Just because a crystal is grown in a lab does not make it a "gem" like other actual gemstones that are lab grown, such as corundum (sapphires and rubies) which MUST be disclosed as lab created.  If you look at the list of recognized gems, Moissanite (just like CZ) is not on the list.   Because something is faceted and pretty, it's not a gem (such as glass or leaded crystal).  But it's the aggressive "creative marketing" that makes a material SEEM like a "gem." Moissanite labs and retailers are reshaping its image from diamond substitute to desirable, affordable "gem."   Charles & Colvard is the source and global distributor of created moissanite.  Colors of Moissanite vary widely and are graded in the I-J-K range on the diamond color grading scale (which are in the yellow range, not colorless).  Here is a link to the  diamond color grading scale.

In the jewelry marketplace, moissanite might be competing with diamond with some consumers, but a trained gemologist would never confuse them. Though visually similar to the casual observer (much like CZ), the gems react differently in various lab tests.

Offering this created stone as a "mineral" or "from meteorites" is false advertising---it's a man-made crystal, grown in a lab, just as CZ is grown in a lab---and not a "gem" at all.

What is its Value?

Moissanite is worth about one-tenth the price of a diamond.  This is according to insurance underwriters and adjusters.

Why Moissanite and Not CZ?

Clever and aggressive "creative" marketing of Moissanite pushes the idea of the "value" associated with this diamond simulant.  It's NOT a gemstone, it's NOT a "created diamond", it's not ANY kind of diamond at all, it doesn't "come from meteorites" but instead comes from a LAB, and the value is only a tenth of a diamond's value.  CZs have greatly improved in quality over the years---they no longer EVER cloud or turn yellow over time, and they do indeed look like a diamond.  CZ is considered to be the closest diamond simulant---meaning it looks the most like a flawless, colorless diamond and NOTHING else comes close.  CZs today are every bit as convincing as Moissanite (or actually are more convincing), and without the heavy marketing campaign, are more affordable alternatives to diamonds.  Both Moissanite and CZ are eco-friendly diamond alternatives, both sparkle and shine like diamonds, both are lab-created stones, and neither are gemstones.

Moissanite ring--from Wikipedia.  Does this look great to anyone?

Why would anyone choose Moissanite?  Especially if you do your homework and are intelligent enough to not be swayed by "creative marketing".

Some people insist that their Moissanite jewelry is "more sparkly" and "more beautiful" than diamonds, or believe their Moissanite stones are much better quality than a cz (or even a diamond!).  Perhaps it's because they (erroneously) equate quality with price.   If that's how anyone feels about their Moissanite jewelry, so be it!  Jewelry is just for fun and to enjoy!!  Just know what you're buying---a simulated diamond, not a gemstone, that is lab created to look like a diamond, and is priced very high in order to "convince" buyers that it's worth more.  It would not be a serious investment piece of jewelry!  It IS definitely eco friendly, since it's not mined but lab grown, so that's always a plus, to me.  However, the price of this man-made stone is WAY over-inflated and not at all worth it, in my opinion (and the opinion of insurance companies).

UPDATE 6/18/13:  I was searching the net trying to find info about "heating cz stones" (that's exactly what I googled), and the second result was THE MOST RIDICULOUS website I've ever seen!!!  It's  a moissanite company and they are obviously VERY concerned with justifying moissanite stones vs. CZ, because an entire page is devoted to making RIDICULOUS claims about CZ!!  SO stupid.  They claim that CZ is "too soft" to wear everyday; that CZ will "absorb water" (???!!!), that CZ "can't stand the heat of getting a ring resized so jewelers will refuse to resize CZ rings" (???!!!) and my favorite, CZ has "an affinity to dirt" like it attracts dirt and you have to clean it several times a day!!!??!!  HAHA, that's just pathetic!  The site goes on and on about "windowing" (like as if CZ has clear spots or something) and how much more "superior" a stone Moissanite is.   And don't EVEN get me started on how they came up with their "percentages" and mathematical computations... !!!

Why is moissanite so worried, if their product is so "fabulous"?  It should sell itself if that were true!  They also have a page that compares moissanite to diamonds, but I don't care enough to even click on that. 

Well, I'm not a CZ dealer, and I don't own stock in CZ creation, and I'm just a consumer, like everyone else.  Except that I happen to have a LOT of experience in the marketing (and advertising) industry and I know "creative marketing" when I see it...I worked at one of the largest marketing firms in the world as a VP and Project Manager, with MANY clients including two of  THE most major jewelry companies in the world---so I know what I am talking about when I laugh at these ridiculous claims.

I am SO turned off by Moissanite's phony claims and aggressive marketing... why would ANYONE buy this lab created fake diamond-wannabe stone, or be foolish enough to pay more than $50-$100 a carat for those stones if you absolutely must have one??  That's ALL their worth, and I'm being generous here.  Go ask a professional insurance underwriter! 

At least CZ isn't trying to pretend it's something that it's not.  Same with Swarovski crystals.  All of these, including Moissanite, are just diamond simulants.  Nothing more.

Oh, and here is the answer to "which is which" at the top:

From Left to Right:  Moissanite, Another Simulant, The $35,000 Diamond, and CZ!

The stone identified as "another simulant" is a very exciting new diamond simulant----a company has taken a lab grown CZ and infused GENUINE diamond crystals onto the outer surface, so it's basically like a CZ encased within a genuine diamond.  It tests as a diamond, jewelers can't tell the difference, it lasts like a diamond, and is really giving De Beers a run for their money!  And judging from De Beers' loss in the $135million class action suit about price manipulation, I would imagine a lot of consumers are looking at other stones for engagement rings, etc.