About: The Mohs Scale

You may be wondering what all of this talk about the Mohs scale is:

“The Mohs scale of mineral hardness (/moʊz/) is a qualitative ordinal scale, from 1 to 10, characterizing scratch resistance of minerals through the ability of harder material to scratch softer material.”

In short - the Mohs scale can help aid you in knowing how “hard” your gemstone is.

•Diamond is the hardest known material on earth, and as such, diamond hardness is 10/10. The closer your gemstone material is to a diamond, the harder it is.

Conversely, if your gemstone is on the softer side, then some care and attention may be needed with your gemstone. Usually, gemstones that are slightly softer are great choices for pendants!

Rings that you will wear 24/7 will require high hardness in order to avoid chipping or wearing away of facets over the years to come.

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Lab Sapphire, Moissanite, and even YAG (Yttrium Aluminum Garnet) are great materials to work with for engagement rings!

To the right is a list of some of the materials I carry and their associated Mohs scale hardness levels:

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•Moissanite - 9.5

•Lab Sapphire/Ruby
(Also called Corundum) - 9

• Czochralski Pulled Alexandrite (lab Alexandrite) - 9

• YAG - 8.5

• Lab Spinel - 7.5 - 8

• Lab Emerald (Hydrothermal Emerald) - 7.5 - 8

• Natural Topaz - 8

• Quartz (Amethyst, Citrtine, Ametrine) - 7

• Garnet - 6.5 - 7.5

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