CZ vs American Diamond vs Moissanite – Whats the difference?
Many people are confused by the terms American Diamond vs Moissanite vs CZ. In reality, American diamonds is a general name for man made synthetic gemstones which are similar in their hardness and sparkle / lustre / fire to natural diamonds. Cubic Zirconia (CZ) or Moissanite are both two different types of American Diamonds. Both are similar in sparkle and fire to natural diamonds (actually even a little better than natural diamonds) and almost as hard as diamonds, however as they are synthetically made, they are less rare and therefore less expensive as compared to natural diamonds. Cubic zirconia are also commonly referred to as Zircons.
Check out out video to compare American Diamond vs Moissanite vs CZ
American diamonds are also different from, and much much cheaper than Synthetic diamonds which are also available today. Synthetic diamonds are chemically identical to natural diamonds (Carbon based) but are made in laboratory conditions with very specialized equipment. American diamonds on the other hand are either zirconium di-oxide (CZ) or silicon carbide (Moissanite). Synthetic diamonds although much cheaper than Natural diamonds, are still much more expensive as compared to American diamonds.
Technical comparison of CZ vs Moissanite |
| Moissanite is 9.25 on the hardness scale commonly used by gemologists, which is almost similar to Diamonds which has a hardness between 9.5-10. CZ on the other had have a hardness of 8.5. Moisannite therefore are more durable, and less prone to breaking or chipping as compared to CZ.
In terms of refraction index (RI), which determines the sparkle that a stone gives, Moissanite has an RI of 2.65 as compared to Diamond which has 2.42 and CZ which has 2.17. Therefore a moissanite can give an even greater sparkle than a Diamond. |
The moissanite we use have a slight tint, whereas CZ are only available in pure white (D shade on the diamonds grading colour scale). Your choice depends on what kind of look you are going for. If you prefer a perfect white gemstone look, then CZ should be your choice. If you are looking for a slightly tinted colour which is closer in look to natural diamonds, then go for moissanite. Natural diamonds are also available in pure white colour (D, E, F shades) like CZ, but those diamonds are extremely highly priced, therefore the diamonds that the vast majority of people wear have a slight tint of colour (H, I, J shades) which makes the slightly tinted moissanite more realistic.
American diamonds are a great alternative to natural diamond jewellery at only a fraction of the price. Visually it is nearly impossible for a lay person to differentiate if a person is wearing a Natural diamond or an American diamond. While both Moissanite & CZ are significantly cheaper than Diamonds, Moissanites are generally more expensive than CZ. We have a good selection of regular wear silver jewellery set with american diamonds like rings, Classic Solitaire earrings and more. Click here to see our collection of American Diamond Jewellery
