Why Buy Moissanite Instead of Any Other Gemstone?

With over twice the sparkle of  even a diamond, more women today are choosing Moissanite jewelry for themselves.  Its unique origins and unmatched beauty make it one of the fastest growing personal choice jewels available.  Properly cut by master cutters, moissanite has incredible fire, brilliance and luster exceeding that of any known gemstone or other man-made material.  These faceted jewels now offer you a variety of choices as they are available near colorless to very slightly tinted are available in round, oval, marquise, pear shape, radiant cut octagon, heart shape, triangle, trillion, princess cut squares, and antique squares.

Moissanite is truly is in a class by itself, providing visual beauty and pride of ownership that needs no comparison. But those who see and admire it are compelled to compare it to the only known thing that comes close to it in beauty, the diamond.

It is generally accepted that the most important characteristics of a jewel are its beauty, durability and rarity.

Beauty The beauty of a jewel is determined by its color, brilliance, "fire" and luster Brilliance The brilliance of a jewel is created by cutting designs that use the jewel's refractive index and is measured by the amount of light that enters the jewel and is reflected back to the viewer. Fire The dispersion of a jewel combined with the cutting design results in the "fire," or the breaking of light rays into the spectrum of colors and is measured by the amount of colored flashes viewed when the jewel is moved in various lighting conditions. Luster Luster is the amount of light that is reflected back to the observer from the surface of the jewel. Durability The durability of a jewel is determined by its hardness, or resistance to scratching, and its toughness, or resistance to chipping or cleaving. The jewel's hardness also determines the extent to which brilliance and "fire" can be highlighted by cutting with sharp, highly polished facets. Rarity Rarity is the availability or perceived availability of a jewel.

These important characteristics are determined by a jewel's physical properties. The table below compares the physical properties of created moissanite and four of the most popular natural jewels.

Comparison Chart	BEAUTY			DURABILITY		SPECIFIC GRAVITY
	BRILLIANCE Refractive Index	FIRE Dispersion	LUSTER	HARDNESS Mohs	TOUGHNESS
	2.65-2.69	0.104	20.4%	9.25	excellent	3.21
	2.42	0.044	17.2%	10	excellent *	3.52
	1.77	0.018	7.4%	9	excellent **	4.00
	1.77	0.018	7.4%	9	excellent **	4.00
	1.58	0.014	4.8%	7.5	good to poor	2.72
* except good in cleavage direction    ** except twinned stones

"Its optical properties provide a diamond with it's brillance, luster and fire. Moissanite out performs diamond on all counts." As quoted from world renown expert Allan Hodgkinson, F.G.A. D.G.A and author of the Rapport Diamond Report Article on Moissanite dated December 4, 1998.

The following sections provide fascinating pictures and information demonstrating the intense beauty, durability, and rarity of this stunning new jewel. Read on to learn why moissanite's superior brilliance, fire, and luster; along with its incredible hardness make it unlike any jewel ever seen.

Brilliance and Fire  

The following photographs demonstrate why moissanite's superior brilliance and fire make it a jewel whose stunning beauty is unmatched by any other. Compare a moissanite jewel's brilliance and fire to any other jewel and you will see why we say it is unlike any jewel ever seen.  

Rarity  

Moissanite created by Charles & Colvard is by far the rarest jewel on earth.

Charles & Colvard, Ltd. uses a unique combination of art and science to turn these rare jewel-quality crystals into a very limited quantity of created moissanite jewels.

The chart below shows the number of carats of created moissanite produced in 1999 in comparison to the millions of carats of the other four precious jewels imported into the United States .

The intervening years have seen only slight modification in these ratios and today, Moissanite is by far still the rarest of all jewel quality gemstones available.

Quality

To ensure the highest quality, all created moissanite jewels are evaluated to exacting standards by specially trained gemologists, quality control personnel, and automated video imaging equipment.

Warranty

All Charles & Colvard created moissanite jewels come with the following 'Certificate of Authenticity and Limited Lifetime Warranty' card.

Science and Art  

From the mind of a scientist and the eye of an artist, we present Moissanite created by Charles & Colvard.

After a century of research, only one company in the world is capable of growing moissanite crystals suitable for use as a precious jewel. Charles & Colvard uses their own uncommon combination of art and proprietary science to turn these rare jewel-quality crystals into stunning moissanite jewels.

The cutting specifications for moissanite jewels are designed to maximize the brilliance and fire inherent in the material. To maximize the light reflecting from a faceted moissanite jewel requires the design of shapes with proportions and angles unlike any other jewel.

Using computer modeling, we create proprietary designs to display the maximum light reflection based on the optical properties (i.e. fire, brilliance and luster) of moissanite jewels. A unique version of the round brilliant cut was the first shape developed applying these computer models. Recently we designed new fancy shapes that eliminate dark areas commonly found in other gemstones with these fancy cuts. We believe these proprietary designs enhance moissanite's physical properties for the superior optical performance observed in faceted moissanite jewels.

Round Brilliant	Baguette
Baguette, Tapered	Cushion
Heart	Marquise
Octagon	Oval
Pear	Princess
Radiant	Square Brilliant
Triangle	Trillion

Durability  

The durability of a gemstone is determined by its hardness, i.e., resistance to scratching, and its toughness, i.e.,  resistance to chipping or cleaving.

Moissanite created by Charles & Colvard, at 9.25 Mohs, is second in hardness only to diamond and incredibly tough. During the development of created moissanite jewels, extensive real-world wear tests were performed by women in a variety of professions, from bank teller to dog groomer to office worker. These wear tests confirmed that moissanite jewels out-perform most jewels in terms of durability.

Superior Heat Resistance  

Moissanite has heat resistance properties superior to many other jewels, offering the following distinct advantages for using moissanite in fine jewelry.

• Moissanite jewels can be cast in place, allowing the jewelry designer to offer innovative, exact-fit designs.
• Moissanite jewels are less likely to experience heat damage during jewelry repair operations.
• Moissanite jewels can survive the extreme temperatures found in typical house fires.

The following pictures demonstrate the superior heat resistance of created moissanite jewels compared to diamond.

	A moissanite jewel and a diamond are placed in a high temperature oven. The temperature in the oven is increased and a flow of oxygen is introduced.
As the oven reaches 1100° C, the diamond catches fire and begins to vaporize. At this point, the heat to the oven is turned off and the diamond will continue to burn until...
	...the diamond has completely vaporized. The moissanite jewel remains intact and as brilliant as the day it was created.