Um....actually, CZ is a synthetic, not a simulant. James
Hi James, It has always been my understanding that a “Synthetic”
stone is a stone with the same chemical composition/crystal
structure as a natural one, except that it is grown in a lab. So
for example a natural sapphire and a synthetic sapphire are both
technically a form of Aluminum Oxide (Al2 O3) with a dash of iron
and titanium for color(blue). A “simulant” is a stone whose
chemical structure differs from the natural stone it tries to
imitate. As I understand it, CZ is technically Zirconium oxide plus
some yttrium or calcium. Technically, it occurs vary rarely in
nature as the mineral baddeleyite, but basically everything on the
market today is produced in a lab. In short, CZ is a diamond
“simulant” because it generally has the look of a diamond but with a
different chemical structure. If it were a “synthetic” diamond,
then its chemical structure would be just C (carbon). Hope this
helps…and for any gemologists out there who feel that I got
something wrong, feel free to correct me
-Bradley