Natural moissanite is a rare gemstone that’s only found in the craters of meteorites, making their origins extraterrestrial by nature. Due to their natural rarity, most moissanite people interact with is actually created in laboratories, as opposed to their natural counterparts, and are meant to imitate diamonds.
Is Moissanite As Good As A Diamond?
Moissanite ranks as the second hardest stone on the Mohs hardness scale, second only to diamonds. Diamonds rank at a 10, the highest grade on the scale, whereas moissanite falls between 9.25-9.5, right above rubies at a 9. While at first, it sounds like diamond has moissanite beat, that’s only one of several common factors.
Color is a major factor people take into consideration when picking a piece of jewelry, and it’s another factor these stones have in common. Diamonds are known for coming in a range of whites, clears, or even pinks whereas moissanite can similarly come in clear they traditionally have yellow or even green tints. Those colors also affect the type of reflections each stone makes. Diamonds typically have white-colored reflections while moissanite usually makes rainbow-like reflections.
Cost is another major factor when picking a piece of jewelry, and is by far the biggest difference between natural and manmade diamonds. Thanks to the fact moissanite can be manufactured it’s significantly cheaper than naturally mined, cut, and graded diamonds.
Does Moissanite Tarnish?
Moissanite doesn’t scratch, tarnish, or fade in color like other gemstones. Moissanite is the second hardest and most durable gemstone on the Mohs hardness scale, where diamonds are a 10 (the top of the scale).
Is Moissanite Sustainable?
Moissanite is completely sustainable, being the most sustainable gemstone available. Moissanite is a manmade laboratory-created gemstone meant to imitate natural diamonds, and because of that, they aren’t mined like other stones making moissanite sustainable, ethical, and contains an even smaller carbon footprint.
Can Moissanite Come In Different Colors?
Yes, moissanite can be colored to suit a wide range of personal tastes and styles. While white moissanite is the most common color found in jewelry stores you are able to find or even request different rings, necklaces, bracelets, or earrings to have different colored moissanite.
The colors moissanite can come in varies greatly on where they come from, or where they’re created. Colors like white, yellow, brown, green, and blue are quite common while other colors like red, pink, purple, or even black are also possible.
The best part about colored moissanite is that the colors don’t fade over time like other painted, stained, or temporary gem coloring treatments. Colored moissanite is guaranteed to last forever without fading because the color you see is its natural color.
Do Moissanite Diamonds Test Real?
While moissanite is a manmade stone that's specifically made to look like a diamond, most standard diamond testers will falsely pass them as “real” diamonds. This is where moissanite-specific tests, or even higher-quality natural diamond testing services, come into play.
The reason for that is as the laboratory processes have improved over time, starting in the 1990s, they’ve gotten better and better and created higher quality moissanite in larger and larger batches. To the point where most jewelers, even with loupes (a small magnifying glass made for inspecting stones), can’t tell the difference between diamonds and moissanite.