You’ve got the girl, the major future plans, the support and blessing from both families – what couldpossibly still be missing? An engagement ring, of course! But engagement ringshavean annoying way of containing diamonds, which could see your wedding budget decrease dramatically, if you had to use for funds towards the ring! So how do you get engaged without bankrupting yourself? Help (and relief) in the form of the magical moissanite is at hand!
What makes it so magical?
Compare a diamond to a moissanite, side by side, and you’dbe hard-pressed to spot any difference whatsoever.Upon closer inspection, you may notice that one of the two has a greater sparkle than the other, which would obviously make that one the diamond.Right?
Think again. The double-refractive qualities of a diamond makes it far more brilliant (in layman’s terms, sparkly) than a diamond. This is achieved by the fact that it splits incoming light into halves, doubling the radiance, rather than just refracting that which comes in, right back. Diamonds are single-refractive, leaving them with less brilliance and sparkle than a moissanite.
Unprocessed moissanite may show signs of grey to green tints, but because moissanite is artificially created, along with advances in related technology, it has become much easier to create the much-desired “colourless” look, so coveted in the world of diamonds.
What are the origins of moissanite?
Long thought to be an extra-terrestrial stone, there are several other misconceived opinions about Moissanite. Back in the 1800’s, a French scientist discovered a sluster of this material near the site of a meteorite impact crate, leading to the belief that the material came from the stars. In reality, the ray form of moissanite is simple silicon carbide, found abundantly in its natural form on earthm under the right conditions.
Moissanite takes its name from the scientist who made this discovery: Henri Moissan.
Why should I use moissanite?
Only one company holds the exclusive rights and patent for the manufacturing of moissanite. This process is 100% laboratory-based, making moissanite a good ethical choice. Its lab origin means that any any questionable ethics around the treatment of miners and destruction of the environment, so closely associated with diamonds, are not part of the consideration. Moissanite is free from hard manual labour, underpaid workers, environmental impact, pollution and damage to the earth.
As with diamonds, various natural tints to the stone can be a side effect to the production process, and similarly to diamonds the clearer the stone, the more desirable it is. Various tints do affect the price category, although to the untrained eye, these are heard to spot – worthwhile to remember if you are planning to save some money!
In conclusion
Moissanite looks nearly identical to diamonds, but the two are not the same at all. Thanks to its major refractive talents, you will get far more sparkle and shine out of your moissanite than you would from a diamond. Even if you are a traditionalist , and would like a cheap moissanite diamond ring, you could getgreat benefit from chooing moissanite instead!