Subscribe Feed (RSS)How do you know the difference between a cubic zirconia and a real diamond? Just the stones, not in a setting?
April 6th, 2008 by admin | Filed under Earth Sciences & Geology.
cerealkillerchicky asked:
I mean in all reality cubics are actually man made diamonds produced under extreme pressure just like a diamond, only they don’t take anywhere near as long as a diamond takes obviously.
WOW EXCELLENT Elizabeth exactly what I was looking for ty!!!
I mean in all reality cubics are actually man made diamonds produced under extreme pressure just like a diamond, only they don’t take anywhere near as long as a diamond takes obviously.
WOW EXCELLENT Elizabeth exactly what I was looking for ty!!!
Tags: Diamond, Extreme Pressure, Man Made Diamonds
Cubic zirconia is so optically close to diamond that only a trained eye can easily differentiate the two. Following are the key features of cubic zirconia which distinguish it from diamond:
1. Dispersion: With a dispersive power greater than diamond the more prismatic fire of cubic zirconia can be seen by even an untrained eye.
2. Hardness, Cubic zirconia has an 8.5 to 8.9 on the Mohs’ hardness scale vs. a rating of 10 for diamonds.
3. Specific gravity: Cubic zirconia crystals are heavyweights in comparison to diamonds. A cubic zirconia will weigh about 1.7 times more than a diamond of equivalent size. CZ gems will be heavier for the same size as a diamond
4. Flaws: Contemporary production of cubic zirconia is virtually flawless, whereas most diamonds have some sort of defect, be it a feather, included crystal, or perhaps a remnant of an original crystal face (e.g. trigons).
5. Refractive index: Cubic zirconia has a refractive index of 2.176, compared to a diamond’s 2.417. CZs have substantially more fire than diamonds, and the flashes you get from the pavilion when you rock the gem, will be orange, while with diamonds they will be orange and blue.
6. Cut: Under close inspection with a loupe, the facet shapes of some cubic zirconias appear different from diamonds. Polish marks on diamonds run per facet in different directions, while on CZ they usually run all in same direction.
7. Color: Only the rarest of diamonds are truly colorless, most having a tinge of yellow or brown to some extent. By comparison, cubic zirconia can be made in most cases entirely colorless: equivalent to a perfect “D” on diamond’s color grading scale.
8. Thermal conductivity: Cubic zirconias are thermal insulators while diamonds are among the most efficient thermal conductors, exceeding copper.
9. When you put a CZ and a diamond on paper with text, with the table on the paper, you will see that a well cut diamond does not make you see any of the text below, while the CZ a little bit.
I hope this informnation will help one to know the difference between diamond and cubic zirconia.