Tuesday September 9, 2008
More sparkle for less
DIAMONDS may be a girl’s best friend but moissanites are definitely a guy’s best buddy – they can pass off as those pricey sparklers yet cost a fraction of their price.
“Moissanite may look like diamond but is an entirely unique jewel with different physical, optical and chemical properties. This gemstone stands on its own as it has superb fire and brilliance,” says Jenet Yong, sales supervisor of C’est si Bon jewellery store in Kuala Lumpur.
Wear these bamboo rings in multiples to make a fashion statement. Each ring features two moissanite solitaires. Moissanite (pronouced moy-san-nite) appears to be a perfect gemstone. Its fire or dispersion of light, is said to be twice that of diamond’s and its brilliance or reflection of light also outshines diamond.
But its most endearing quality has to be its price – one-tenth of diamond’s. Yong reveals that a one-carat moissanite ring set in 18k gold or white gold retails at RM2,900.
The seductive combination of beauty and price is making moissanite irresistible to women.
Event manager Adeline Song has been impressing friends with a two-carat moissanite ring. “I bought it because the shine and sparkle are better than diamond’s. If you buy a top-grade diamond, it will probably cost you a condo. But with moissanite, you’re getting something that a diamond gives you but at a cheaper price. And you don’t feel so bad if you lose it.”
The stone is drawing looks in Europe and the United States, where it has garnered a following among celebrities such as Brooke Shields, Minnie Driver, Marc Anthony (it seems he loves his moissanite cufflinks), Ming-Na and Niki Taylor.
“The Australians also like moissanites particularly because they are not conflict diamonds. It is only in Malaysia that moissanites are not so well-known,” says Yong.
With their sparkle and fire, one cannot tell that these are not diamonds. Moissanite is actually silicon carbide, and was discovered in 1893 by French Nobel Prize winner Dr Henri Moissan when he was studying meteorite fragments at the Canyon Diablo meteor crater in Arizona. Naturally occurring moissanite crystals are tiny and rare, thus prohibiting their use in jewellery.
US-based Charles & Colvard developed a way to create the synthetic white gem by combining the natural minerals of silicon and carbon in the laboratory. It put the stone on the market in 1998. The patented thermal growth process is intense and expensive, thus preventing mass production of the stone. It takes over six months to grow a seed into a gem-quality crystal. The company is the sole source of moissanites.
With a hardness of 9.24 compared with diamond’s 10 on the Mohs relative hardness scale, moissanite is the second hardest jewel known to man. This toughness makes it resistant to abrasions. Its refractive index (the optical property affecting the sparkle of gemstones) exceeds that of diamond’s, which is why Charles & Colvard says the stone outshines diamonds.
Moissanites are mostly near-colourless or a grade G in the colour grading for diamonds, though some have a greenish tinge. The stones are hand-cut to the “Ideal Cut”. Yong says moissanites do have needle-like inclusions inherent to the crystal growth process but these are visible only through magnification.
At C’est si Bon, the authorised local retailer of moissanites, the stones are mounted in 18k gold and white gold. The range includes rings, ear-rings, pendants and loose stones
Purchases come with a warranty that the brilliance and lustre of the stone will not fade. It might be a good idea to purchase moissanite jewellery now for prices have more than doubled in the past three years.
Though it matches most of the qualities of diamonds, moissanite still takes a back seat simply because of the emotional attachment people have for diamonds. But with the cost of most things rising, Yong believes moissanites are worth considering even for the all-important engagement or wedding rings.
“After all, it is also a gemstone, a nice, brilliant one,” she quips.
Related stories:
Brighten your day
How not to be cheated
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