Large diamond substitute

A client has a beautiful 18kyg wedding ring with a 3ct center
diamond. She wants me to approximately replicate the ring in 10kyg
with synthetic stones so that she can wear it when she travels
internationally. What kind of substitute should I use for the center
diamond of this size?

Thank you.
Jamie

Cubic Zirconia is the nearest inexpensive one. If you want to fool
people then Monzonite which is a synthetic quartz gives an excellent
replication of the attributes of diamond and can fool even experts.

Cubic Zirconia is the nearest inexpensive one. If you want to fool
people then Monzonite which is a synthetic quartz gives an
excellent replication of the attributes of diamond and can fool
even experts. 

Moissonite is silicon carbide…not quartz.

Richard Hart G.G.
Denver, Co.

If you want to fool people then Monzonite which is a synthetic
quartz gives an excellent replication of the attributes of diamond
and can fool even experts. 

Should this be Moissanite? Monzonite is a feldspar rich rock that
I’ve seen used for countertops, not as a diamond substitute.

Caren

Moissonite is silicon carbide....not quartz. 

Thanks for correcting me and I spelt it incorrectly!

Jamie: I would suggest CZ for many reasons. They are a great looking
substitute, the pricing is very good, they are readily available,
very durable etc. They have a proven track record in this very
application. Just as a sidebar note. There are some jewelry stores
that have these stones in their display cases so that if they are
robbed the lose is not as great. They then either swap out the stone
or pull the real goods out of the vault.

John (Jack) Sexton

and in my estimation, moissonite, is hugely overpriced.

Jack

I agree with Jack and John (Jack) that moissanite is very expensive
and CZ is a better substitute. In fact, CZ LOOKS MORE LIKE DIAMOND
than syn moissanite, and while moissanite is much harder, CZ will
still last for a very long time before its “wear” begins to show.

Antoinette

Antoinette Matlins

The work going on with manmade diamonds is going to change the
diamond market within a few years. Just as digital cameras have
reached the top to surpass film. I’ve used CZ’s for some jobs, but
only as a request by the customer who at the time had limited funds
and wanted to us something to temporality to give to his wife. The
problem with CZ’s is they get dirty on the back of the stone fairly
quickly with soap and every day wearing. The look is less then
quality and I’ll never us them again. Make a decision to make custom
jewelry, or junk. I only want to point out that practice setting with
CZ’s but don’t think that you’ll fool anyone with eyes. Moissanite
is not cheap, but if you’re saving for a nice one carat SI G-H color
diamond, then you can bet that the Moissanite, even with its greenish
tint, will be worth the fake stone test by leaps and bounds. This new
year a company yet to be announced will have perfected the F color
manmade diamond. It is a manmade diamond that is real not fake.
They’ll laser cut the girdle to let anyone to check that it is in
fact manmade, but it will forever change the buying habits of the 99%
of people who want to have enough money for a one carat diamond that
is cheap compared to real, but don’t feel that there’s a trade off
for quality. I say Great News as real diamonds are the biggest con
from the biggest Cartel, DEBEERS!. Now let’s start the new year off
with comments on this thread.

Thank you,
Mark Gerrasch

What kind of substitute should I use for the center diamond of
this size.. 

Diamond-cut colorless natural zircon. Besides being a good looking
substitute for Diamond - it is a natural stone and not expensive.
Actually quite inexpensive.

We will have 7.5 mm and 7.75 mm and 3 mm diamond cut colorless
natural zircons at our booth in the GJX booth # 205 at the February
2012 Tucson Shows.

Best regards,
Robert P. Lowe Jr.

Many feel that synthetic Moissanite is overpriced, but there is only
one producer og colorless synthetic Moissanite, so they have a lock
on the product and charge what they will. There IS a natural
counterpart, but the crystals are microscopic.

Moissanite is doubly refractive, unlike diamond which is singly
refractive. Thus, M. will display a “doubling” of pavilion facets
under the crown facets. This is easy to see with a loupe. Also,
varyingly, Moissanite looks white under incandescent lights but
often takes on a light greenish-yellow tone in daylight. It almost
looks greasy sometimes.

I can’t tell you how many times in forty years I have been called on
to create a diamond look-alike stone, often for insurance purposes,
but sometimes just for bling. Increasingly, I have been cutting
synthetics or stimulants even for engagement rings!

Someone suggested cubic zirconia, but CZ is NOT durable and will not
last long in a ring. Commercially cut CZ is easy to distinguish from
diamond just by the poor facet meets and soft facet edges. Properly
cut and polished, it is very similar to diamond optically, but it
just not stand up to abuse through time. Anyone who has worn one for
a few months needs to loupe the stone it will be dinged up.

For quite a few years I used colorless YAG to cut diamond
substitutes. Cut to AGS Ideal angles and proportions, and properly
polished on a ceramic lap they are stunning! But, though very hard,
YAG may chip over an extended period, as well, but not nearly as bad
as CZ. For the past couple of years I have been using Czochralski
pulled colorless synthetic corundum (sapphire), and, while the RI is
MUCH lower than diamond, they make a very satisfactory diamond
substitute that will withstand a hammer blow! I would never have
believed it would make a good diamond substitute until a client
insisted on having one cut to AGS Ideal proportions, I was amazed!
So now, we use the corundum and warranty the stones for life. The
secret s in the polish and it is very time consuming to cut. It takes
about seven hours to produce a well-made and well-polished 6.5 mm
stone. But it is still only a fraction of the cost of Moissanite and
looks as good or better.

Wayne Emery
thelittlecameras.com

The work going on with manmade diamonds is going to change the
diamond market within a few years. 

I don’t think synthetic diamonds will change the market for real
diamonds to any great extent. There have been synthetic sapphires and
rubies for many years and it has not decreased the yearning for the
real thing. It might have helped it. What keeps consumers buying the
real thing is it is worth something. Go try to sell your $1000
moissanite and see what you get. You can sell your diamond for
something.

I say Great News as real diamonds are the biggest con from the
biggest Cartel, DEBEERS 

I am really sick about people picking on diamonds, the real con is
the I-phone, and computers. DeBeers is not forcing people to buy
diamonds like the computer industry forces us to buy newer upgraded
hardware and software. Would you rather inherit grandmother’s 2.00ct
flawless diamond to sell or grandmothers IBM computer with 5" soft
drives.

Happy New Year
Bill Wismar

The problem with CZ's is they get dirty on the back of the stone
fairly quickly with soap and every day wearing. The look is less
then quality and I'll never us them again. Make a decision to make
custom jewelry, or junk. I only want to point out that practice
setting with CZ's but don't think that you'll fool anyone with
eyes. 

A dirty diamond looks just like a dirty CZ. As far as not being able
to “fool anyone with eyes”, you must be a hell of a lot better at
Gemology than I am after my 30 years of experience. I use a diamond
tester. I have absolutely no idea how you could identify a mounted
gem with the naked eye. I would never take the risk.

Moissanite is not cheap, but if you're saving for a nice one carat
SI G-H color diamond, then you can bet that the Moissanite, even
with its greenish tint, will be worth the fake stone test by leaps
and bounds. 

Moissanite has much higher dispersion than diamond. “Worth the fake
stone test”? Missed that lesson in Gemology. Oh, wait, there is not
fake stone test, there is gem identification. Gem ID is to separate
what something is from everything else.

And, lastly, ho hum, boring, a good quality CZ will look better than
I1-I3 diamond," by leaps and bounds" assuming the observer has good
eye sight. My not so humble opinion.

Richard Hart G.G.
Denver, Co.

So now, we use the corundum and warranty the stones for life.

Spot on and well written Wayne.

If you would have to choose a mix of composite stone, and l am
speaking of a doublet, what would be your choice for the crown and
the pavilion? Makes sense to have the crown hard, like white corundum,
but the bottom?

I want to make some stones that ( because they are doublets )
encompass the best of separate materials.

The top pretty much has to be corundum, but the bottom can be
anything from strontium titanate to yag.

What thinkest thou?

http://www.meevis.com

Increasingly, I have been cutting synthetics or stimulants even for
engagement rings! 

Hello Light Bender:

Please excuse me for asking a beginner’s question but I have to
wonder about the discrepancy between the crystal axes of diamond and
the final cut faceting. When you cut facets which are not in line
with the right-angled cubic structure, does that cause any
difficulties? Also, does the crystal structure of the synthetics
make any difference to the difficulty in your work? Finally, when the
synthetics are real diamond (and not CZ for example) does the lab
crystal growth pattern (eg by blowtorch method as we saw in the BBC
video) not deviate from cubic? If yes, does that cause a
faceting/cutting problem?

What about White Sapphires as diamond substitute

I’ve read this thread with interest… I notice no one mentions
white sapphires… I think Rio’s catalog lists them as a possible
substitute for diamonds… Does anyone have experience with them?

Catherine Schratt, Cate Jewelry

Hi Chatherine,

If you put a White Sapphire next to any number of diamond
substitutes, you’ll see that the sapphire looks dead as far as
reflecting light and light dispersion. Sapphire’s and ruby’s are in
the same family, I’ve found great flawless red sapphires that I’ve
shown to a customer who wanted a ruby, and made a sale for the
sapphire because of its beauty. I’ve also thought as you about
sapphire’s and diamonds, but you’ll see that sapphires have no pop
and flash as a diamond look alike.

Mark

What about White Sapphires as diamond substitute 

When we use the term white, it is actually inaccurate. Gemologically
it is correct to say colorless transparent gemstone. I use colorless
transparent sapphires. They are pretty in their own right, but they
cannot compare to a diamond. White enamels or resins are opaque.
White stones are opaque. Diamonds reflect and refract, and what it
reflects is called white light. It is not white in color, it is
considered white compared to refracted light that is broken into
spectral colors. What is the color of sunlight?

Richard Hart G.G.
Denver, Co.

What about White Sapphires as diamond substitute 

Check back to Wayne Emery’s post - he gives some good reasons for
using synthetic sapphire.

Al Balmer
Pine City, NY

Hi Catherine,

I've read this thread with interest.... I notice no one mentions
white sapphires.... I think Rio's catalog lists them as a possible
substitute for diamonds.... Does anyone have experience with them? 

I was the one who suggested using colorless synthetic sapphire as a
diamond substitute. Of course, you can use natural material, but it
will have to be re-cut, as commercial cutting that you see everywhere
will not show the stone to anywhere near its potential. It needs to
be cut to angles close to, (but not the same as) the angles used to
make an AGS 0 cut grade diamond (Ideal), and the polish needs to be
far finer than what is used commercially. 20,000 grit is used
commercially, sometimes evn 8,000 grit, for sapphire, but if it’s
going to simulate diamond it must be cut with great precision to very
precise angles and polished with 100,000 or 200,000 grit diamond,
finally kissed with an oxide polish.

Sorry, you can’t get this material from a catalog, it needs to be
custom cut. It is very time consuming and not cheap, but still less
expensive than Moissanite.

Wayne Emery
thelittlecameras.com