All right.
Today we're going to talk about all things moissanite.
Why a lot of people consider this stone
to be the best stone
that looks like a diamond that isn't.
We're going to answer the burning question that everybody usually asks.
Can you spot the difference?
And then we're going to go over a lot of the features,
some of the other things that they're available in
and then tips on what to look for when you're selecting one.
So what is moissanite?
So moissanite believe it or not,
is a gemstone,
and it mostly originated from outer space.
The vast majority of the natural moissanite we find
are actually in meteorite craters.
It's named after a guy named Henri Moissan.
I think he found it back in the late 1800s.
Actually thought it was a diamond when he found it.
He thought he found a diamond deposit.
Actually, it was moissanite
and so that's been named after him.
Now, for all intents purposes,
moissanite is found in such small quantities in nature
that the moissanite that you see in jewellery
is not going to be natural.
It's just not feasible.
So what happened is the moissanite that you see today is lab-grown.
One of the most popular questions we get asked is,
can you see the difference between a moissanite and a diamond?
The answer, it depends.
So the two main factors to really look at
is the shape and the source.
So the shape, if you're going to be comparing
a round diamond to a round moissanite
that shape is probably where the difference
is going to be the hardest spot.
The difference is usually going to be much easier spot in other shapes.
So let's say you're looking at two emerald cuts or two pears.
It's going to be easier to spot.
The other thing that we'll talk about,
and we'll go into this in a little bit more detail later,
but it's going to be the source.
Okay?
So moissanite is lab-grown,
and depending on who grows it
how it's grown.
We found that actually also has a big impact
on how much of that difference
that you can actually spot.
So in our experience,
if we're showing a client a round diamond
and a round moissanite side-by-side,
I'd say a good third of the clients
can actually see the difference.
They can't tell.
For the other two-thirds that do notice differences,
they're going to be able to tell differences,
but the vast majority of them
are not going to be able to definitively say
which one is a diamond
which one is the moissanite.
It's just their brain is doing that comparison thing
so that they can compare it,
but they don't know which one is which.
Let's do an eye test.
Take a look at these two stones.
One of them is a moissanite,
and the other one is a diamond.
Can you tell which one is which?
This one is a moissanite.
And as you can see it has more of a rainbow spectrum.
When it sparkles you can see
the red, blue, green
all reflecting out of the stone
while being a white palette stone.
It's quite unique and magical.
One of the biggest misconceptions that we hear
is that a moissanite is a fake diamond.
Absolutely not.
A moissanite is a gemstone
with all of its own unique characteristics.
So let's dive into exactly what are those characteristics
and what you need to look out for.
While diamonds are categorised by the 4Cs,
moissanites are categorised a little bit differently.
And we're going to get into that now.
So let's start with carat.
We already reviewed it in a different video
why carat is the number one thing that people get wrong.
But when it comes to moissanite,
carat honestly is pretty useless.
What you want to look at is measurements.
And so if you're looking at a round diamond,
just look at the diameter.
You're looking at an eight-millimetre stone
or length or width,
an eight by six-millimetre oval.
Sometimes you will see them sold by carat,
but honestly throw that out.
You want to look more at the measurements
because that's going to really give you a better understanding of how big it is.
Let's talk about colour.
So where diamonds are graded per colour by the letter,
moissanites are graded a little bit differently.
They are graded as near colourless and colourless.
So now you are going to pay a bigger premium
for a colourless stone.
But that's why we like to take our clients through that
because if you're able to see yellow in the stone,
we're definitely going to recommend that you stick in the colourless range.
However, if you're not able to spot the difference,
you can save your money
and have a beautiful stone
that's in the near colourless category.
All right, so with the regards to clarity,
that part usually you're going to find that it's a lot simpler.
They're lab-grown.
They typically are lab-grown in
a sense that the imperfections are invisible
and they're very high.
So you're typically going to find that
there is not a clarity grade
and quite frankly you shouldn't see
any imperfections in a moissanite.
Let's talk about shape.
You can pretty much get any shape as a moissanite
and actually you can even get different proportions.
I've seen where we've done ovals
where they're more slender and thin.
Or perhaps you like the more plump variety
that almost looks like a round hybrid of an oval.
Same with cushions,
you could get a more square
or more rectangular shape.
You can also get different cuts.
The most popular tends to be the brilliant cut,
but you can also get more antique cuts like a rose cut.
Moving on to one of the things
that's probably going to be one of the biggest differences
is basically who is growing it
and how it's grown, okay.
And so originally there was one company
that owned the patent on it,
and that patent from 2015-2018
basically expired.
And so what happened is now you have
a plethora of companies all around the world
that grow moissanite.
And the unfortunate truth is,
moissanite is not just a moissanite.
There's a lot of varieties.
And we've certainly seen this.
So we've seen some where they say it's near colourless,
they market it as such,
but we've see the material
and it looks very yellow or brown.
Or we've also come across other moissanite
a lot of it grown overseas,
and our setters will tell us that
it's so fragile when they're setting it.
And so we've seen that as being probably
one of the most important factors is
that don't just assume any moissanite
is just a moissanite.
There are definitely qualitative differences
and more of that has more to do unfortunately
with just how it's grown
or who is growing it.
The fact that a moissanite could be prone to chipping,
that has to do with the quality of the rough,
and it's an inferior rough.
It does not have to do with
the hardness of the stone.
Actually moissanite is about a 9 out of 10
on the Mohs Scale hardness,
so it's a very durable stone
that's perfect for everyday wear and tear.
Okay, so let's get to the hottest question that we get asked, okay?
How does the price compare to a diamond?
Okay. So if a natural diamond cost $10,000,
a lab-grown diamond
is going to cost $5,000
and then that moissanite equivalent
is going to cost you about $1,500.
And one of the benefits of making
a custom-made engagement ring
is that we can actually work backwards from your budget,
and we can make sure that we're ticking off
all the things that are meaningful for you.
One thing that we want to leave you with
is that moissanites are not created equally.
We are experts in moissanite.
You can work with us in our Toronto studio
or virtually online.
We would love to show them to you side-by-side
and figure out which one's right for you.