What is Moissanite ?

Moissanite is named after the Nobel prize winner Henri Moissan. In 1893 he began studying fragments of a meteorite which crashed in the Arizona desert about 50,000 years ago. In these fragments he discovered minute quantities of a new mineral which had a very high shimmer. He studied this mineral and identified it as made up of silicon carbide. Due to the miniscule quantities of its find this mineral now named moissanite was not studied further till the late 1980’s when a company named CREE developed a proprietary process for producing large single crystals of Moissanite.

These crystals correct name is synthetic moissanite and it was observed in the mid 1990’s that it would make for a very high quality synthetic gemstone if cut properly , highlighting its brilliance and luster. The hardness of the stone makes it a very durable gemstone for jewelry. Charles & Colvard is the company behind the synthetic moissanite that is being sold today. Their genius lies in the slick marketing including not using ‘Synthetic’ when describing a moissanite and carefully monitoring the supply of their product and not flood the markets.

You can read my post on Moissanite Diamond Review to know how the two compare.
Today’s economic meltdown makes it a very good substitute to a diamond.

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