Cubic Zirconia vs White Zircon: The Common Misconception

Hi Everyone! In today's blog post, Steve is going to talk about some common misconceptions dealing with cubic zirconia and white zircon. Many people think they are the same thing, but they are very different. Below Steve Moriarty has done a video to show you all the differences and issues arrive with these two "gems".

TRANSCRIPTION OF VIDEO

Hi, I'm Steve Moriarty. I'm from Moriarty's Gem Art in Crown Point, Indiana. We represent ourselves online as moregems.com.

What I want to show you today is some zircons. When I say zircon people are often confused, and they think I'm talking about cubic zirconia. These here are cubic zirconia, these are a diamond imitation that's manmade. This is zirconium oxide, and these are produced in a lab and then cut.

This is natural zircon. They do come white. They look a lot like diamond, they look a lot like cubic zirconia, but this is the natural form. This particular stone comes from Tanzania. Many of these stones that we've cut come from Tanzania, the peach colors, the yellow colors. Imperial zircon is this peachy color. The blue stones come from Cambodia.

These are all mined stones. These are zircons that come from a mine and they're cut. These are cubic zirconia, they come from a lab. Lot of confusion with this because of the name. These are zirconium silicate, these are zirconium oxide. They're totally different gems. Manmade, natural stone.

These fine zircons have very high brilliance, they're very close diamond in refractive index, and that's what causes brilliance. They're just a very beautiful, natural stone that has excellent brilliance, beautiful colors. If you're interested in zircon, visit us at Moriarty's Gem Art on the Square in Crown Point, or at moregems.com online.