Differences and comparisons between diamonds, moissanite and high carbon diamonds
Diamonds are forever, one will be passed down foreverIts market and collection value are favored by people, and it has become the first choice gemstone for people to get engaged and married. However, due to its high price, it is still prohibitive for most people.However, there are now several diamond-like alternatives on the market, and we can have products with the look of diamonds without spending a lot of money.
Diamond substitutes are very similar to diamonds in appearance, but they are different in other aspects and even have obvious disadvantages.The most popular diamond substitutes today are man-madecubic zirconia (often known on the market as Soviet stone, high carbon diamond, synthetic diamond, zircon, CZ, etc.)and laboratory-grown moissaniteBelow we will analyze the differences between the three in detail based on their origin, rarity, scintillation, hardness, color, clarity, ability to maintain value and price :
| Comparison of gemstone origins | ||
|---|---|---|
| Diamond | Moissanite | Cubic zirconia (Soviet diamond/high carbon diamond) |
| ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
| Tens of millions of years ago, hot magma deep underground rushed upward along the tube. Because the crater was often blocked, the rising magma cooled under extremely huge pressure.A small amount of pure carbon crystallizes under this high temperature and huge pressure to become diamond. This is the original stone of diamond, which is the hardest substance currently known to exist in nature. | Natural moissanite (silicon carbide) is an outer space meteorite from outside the solar system. It was discovered by French Nobel Prize winner Henri Moissan in 1893 from falling meteorites in Arizona, USA. It is a kind of meteorite found on Earth. carbon-silicon bonded particles that do not exist onBecause it is so bright, scientists began to develop | Cubic zirconia (Soviet diamond/high carbon diamond) is a diamond imitation launched by the Soviet Union that can be mass-produced. It is an artificial compound and originated from imitating diamonds. |
| Comparison of rarity | ||
| ★★★★★ | ★★☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
| Diamonds are very rareThe cost of mining natural diamonds is very high. Mining 1 diamond requires tons of soil, and there are very few diamonds that reach gem quality.Only about 1 in 1,000,000 diamonds unearthed are jewelry quality | Moissanite on the market is grown in laboratories. The main component is silicon carbide, The output is greatly improved.However, the threshold for cultivating technology is relatively high and self-development is relatively difficult. | Cubic zirconia (Soviet diamond/high carbon diamond) is not rare, and its current annual output has reached the level of thousands of tons.Substances such as metal flakes and stabilizer powder are added to zirconia, and then heated and crystallized using current. The technical level is similar to steelmaking. |
| Comparison of flicker | ||
| Refractive index, dispersion and cut all affect the scintillation of a gemstoneCut comes from the level of craftsmanship. Both moissanite and cubic zirconia (Soviet diamonds/high carbon diamonds) can use diamond cuts, so there is not much difference. The more common one is the brilliant cut (also known as eight-heart eight). arrow)However, even if they have the same cut, their refractive index and dispersion are physically different. Refractive index: The higher the value, the harder it is for the light entering the gem to leave the gem, and it will always be reflected and stay in the gem. When the light is continuously reflected in the gem, it will create a very brilliant effect. Dispersion: It means that when white light passes through a gem, it is decomposed into its constituent spectral colors (red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, violet)The higher the dispersion value, the more colorful the rainbow-like brilliance will be reflected, also known as "fire" | ||
| ★★★★☆ Refractive index: 2.42 Dispersion: 0.044 |
★★★★★ Refractive index: 2.65 Dispersion: 0.104 |
★★★★☆ Refractive index: 2.15~2.18 Dispersion: 0.060 |
| Diamond is a representative of nature. It is the gemstone with the highest refractive index on earth. | Moissanite is a representative of outer space. Its scintillation is higher and more sparkling than most gemstones. | Cubic zirconia is an artificial representative, and its scintillation is comparable to that of diamonds. |
| Comparison of hardness | ||
| Diamonds are the hardest gemstones. On the Mohs hardness scale, diamonds are the highest 10. There is no doubt that diamonds are the hardest gemstones.It is closely followed by moissanite at 9.25, which is not a big difference.Cubic zirconia (Soviet diamond/high carbon diamond) has a lower hardness, but it is still considered a hard stone. Its Mohs hardness is about 8For common metals, stainless steel is 5.5, iron is 4 to 5, gold and silver are 2.5 to 3 | ||
| ★★★★★ Mohs hardness: 10 |
★★★★☆ Mohs hardness: 9.25 |
★★★☆☆ Mohs hardness: ~8 |
| Clarity comparison and color comparison | ||
| Clarity and color are important criteria for measuring the value of a diamond. A lower clarity grade means there are internal flaws, which directly affects the beauty of the gem. The diamond laboratory will classify the color of a diamond from colorless to yellow into D , E, F to W and other color gradesAs a popular substitute for diamonds, the clarity of high-quality moissanite and high-carbon diamonds can reach VVS or higher, which means they have very few flaws and are almost flawless.As for the difference in color, moissanite and high-carbon diamond can also reach the colorless levels of D, E, and F. | ||
| ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Comparison of value preservation capabilities | ||
| ★★☆☆☆ | ★☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
| Although diamonds are valuable, they are very different from the other two. They have extremely high resale capabilities. However, their resale value is generally only 40 to 60% of the retail price (it may vary depending on the situation), so it is also Not a good choice for value preservation | The price of laboratory-grown moissanite is stable in the market. However, its resale ability is not great. However, because of its high hardness and durability, it is easy to renovate and clean, and transactions in the second-hand market are also common. | Cubic zirconia (Soviet diamond/high carbon diamond) has huge production volume and low price, so there is no need or ability to resell it. |
| Comparison of price and affordability | ||
| Diamonds are very rare and expensive to mine, so they can be clearly distinguished in price.Compared with diamonds, moissanite and high-carbon diamonds are much cheaperBut comparing moissanite and high-carbon diamonds, moissanite is also much more expensive than high-carbon diamonds. | ||
| ☆☆☆☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★★★ |
| The retail price of 1 card is about HK$30,000 to HK$50,000 | The retail price of 1 card is about HK$1,000 | The retail price of one card is tens to hundreds of yuan |