The Moissanite Diamond

When it comes to choosing an moissanite diamonds ring, you’ll likely see moissanite touted as being a diamond alternative with none of the drawbacks. It’s made from meteorites, it’s environmentally friendly, and it costs significantly less than a mined diamond. It also supposedly looks just as sparkly and has the same heirloom value.

However, it’s important to understand that a moissanite and a real diamond are two completely different stones, and even the most trained eyes can tell the difference. There are some specific characteristics of both gemstones that make them distinct from one another, including color and clarity.

How Moissanite Diamonds Compare to Natural Diamonds in Brilliance and Cost

In the past, most lab-created moissanites have had noticeable yellow or gray tinting, which makes them much harder to mistake for a true diamond. However, in recent years there have been a number of efforts to produce colorless moissanites. In particular, Charles & Colvard created the Forever Brilliant moissanite in 1995, which was close enough to a white diamond that skilled jewelers couldn’t tell them apart. They followed that up with Forever One, a more advanced version of colorless moissanite.

Brilliance

Moissanite refracts light differently than a diamond, which means that it often appears more sparkly than a comparable sized diamond. It also tends to have more fire, a term that refers to the visible flashes of color that you see when moving the stone around in strong light. That said, a diamond can have more fire too, especially if it’s an older cut style or is set with certain angles.