What is moissanite?
Moissanite is a gemstone born from the stars! It was first discovered in 1893 by a French scientist named Henri Moissan, who later won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He discovered particles of the gem in a crater created by a meteorite in Arizona. Initially, he thought he had found diamonds, but it turned out to be something much rarer.
Composed of silicon carbide, the crystals found were so rare that they had to be replicated in a laboratory. After many years of trial and error, Charles & Colvard® successfully synthesized the particles Moissan discovered to produce the moissanite we know today. With more scintillation than a diamond, it is the World's Most Brilliant Gem®.
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Brilliance
Through proprietary cutting and faceting, Charles & Colvard® created moissanite that optimizes the brilliance of this unique gemstone. Brilliance refers to the amount of light that is reflected back to the viewer. With a range of 2.65-2.69 on the refractive index, moissanite exceeds every other gemstone and is quantifiably the world’s most brilliant gem®!
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Fire
A striking optical property of moissanite is its Fire (dispersion), which measures a gemstone’s ability to break down light into spectral colors. Due to its double refractive nature, moissanite produces a beautiful combination of sparkle and pattern, known as scintillation. Moissanite’s fire measures 0.104 on the dispersion index – nearly two and a half times that of diamonds.
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Hardness
Hardness is a measure of a gemstone’s durability and its resistance to scratches and abrasions. As one of the hardest gemstones on earth, moissanite is extremely resistant to scratching, chipping and breaking. At 9.25-9.50, moissanite is second only to diamond (10) on the Mohs scale of Hardness. Durable enough for everyday wear, Charles & Colvard® guarantees their gemstones for a lifetime.
Not all moissanite is created equal!
From small artisans to the largest jewelry retailers, moissanite has become a popular choice as an alternative to traditional mined diamonds. But it's not all created equal!
We created the world's first colorless moissanite and closely guard the proprietary techniques that make our moissanite outshine the rest. Since 1995, we have set the standards for moissanite and perfected the process over three decades of innovation! With our signature engraving on the girdle of all stones 4mm and larger, you can be confident that only our moissanite is the World's Most Brilliant Gem.®
Bench Jeweler's Guide
Whether you’re a moissanite novice or veteran, we’ve put together this guide to help you better understand how to work with and care for moissanite. By following these techniques, you’ll be on your way to creating unparalleled pieces of jewelry that will remain as brilliant as the day they were created.
