Buying Cubic Zirconia
Everyone loves jewelry, with glittering gems and gleaming gold being the perfect accompaniment to many elegant outfits. One thing that not so many people love though is the price of a big, blinged up diamond. For this reason there is much interest about created diamonds and other alternatives – with one of the most popular being cubic zirconia.
Cubic zirconia in it’s pure form is very hard, and clear. Unlike natural or man made diamonds it is generally flawless, due to the method of production. To give it optical properties more like a diamond, CZs are usually cut to shape and then coated with very thin films of other substances. Some of the treated stones on the market have optical characteristics well over 90% identical to real, mined diamonds, making them very hard to tell apart without sophisticated equipment.
Cubic zirconia can also be improved by a technique whereby very thin layers of golden metal are sprayed on to the stone. This effect is less like a naturally occurring diamond but can produce beautiful stones regardless. This type of stone can be used in many alternative pieces of jewelry to great effect.
CZ is close to the hardness of a natural diamond, but it is much heavier. This is one of the easier ways that a jeweler can tell the difference between loose stones of CZ vs natural diamonds, by measuring the weight and displacement of the stone. CZ is almost twice as heavy as a diamond.
The reason that cubic zirconia is one of the most popular stones on the market today is due to its cheapness to produce but also its great looks and similarity to a diamond. If you are shopping for a new piece of jewelry, ask yourself whether you really need to spend thousands on a big stone, or whether you might be better off saving a few dollars and purchasing a gem which will look just as good for a fraction of the price!
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