Dishonesty is a well known epidemic that plagues the world. It leaves hopeful women heart broken, innocent children deprived of a childhood and genuine people robbed of their rights. Hardly anything new, in fact a fact that makes the world go round but quite annoying and down right tragic when you’ve set your heart on something only find yourself cheat of it. Bringing this rant closer to home, I’d like to specifically highlight to everyone who is into jewelry to be aware of an all too common scam.
Diamonds are precious stones that clearly rank amongst the highest (if it is not already ranked as the highest) on the most sought after gem list. Only problem with that is there are different grades to diamonds and while the best are obviously very expensive, the lower grades can be relatively cheap. But dishonest businessmen would love to have unsuspecting buyers believe otherwise and have them pay a King’s ransom for what the industry would classify as worthless. What’s even worse is when they try to sell you a fake diamond (cubic zirconia) and this actually happened to a friend. It had been the last gift he got her before his untimely death soon after and it was heart wrenching for her to learn that they had gotten cheated over it.
They bought what was supposed to be a genuine natural diamond ring, paid the price of what one would cost only to find it wasn’t even a low grade diamond. It was a synthetic .
But this scam is nothing new. What I want to bring to your attention is the ‘fake diamond’, cubic zirconia and how its use in the industry has literally destroyed the reputation and favour of another genuine natural gemstone, the zircon.
You see Cubic Zirconia and Zircon are two names that have been thrown about and used interchangeably by dishonest salesmen. In fact some probably don’t even realize there is a difference. Cut to the chase, Zircon (Silicate mineral, zirconium silicate, ZrSiO4)is the real deal. It isn’t a diamond but it is a natural occurring gem. Zircon always occurs in crystals that are pointed at both ends. They re usually brown or colourless but can be blue, green or red. Heating the gem can alter it’s colour. Cubic Zirconia on the other hand is man-made from a mixture of high purity zirconium oxide powders stabilized with magnesium and calcium.
Now to the important part about which is better, synthetic gems or natural gems. Well frankly neither are eco-friendly. Natural gems are harmless but the mining process isn’t. Synthetics on the other hand come with their own issues because Synthetic and simulant gemstone are produced from one of three types of processes: melt growth, solution growth, or extremely high-temperature, high-pressure growth – and the one thing they have in common – massive energy consumption!
So if you’re into blings then what’s best is looking for recycled jewels and gems where the damage is already done and it won’t contribute anymore to the cycle. It doesn’t matter if it’s a synthetic or natural gem, all that matters is you are in love with the piece, it didn’t cause more harm to the environment and most importantly you know it for what it is and paid that fair price!
Know your diamond, know your zircon, recognize zirconia and find a gem that will the earth will love you for.
