About: Moissanite
Moissanite is one of my favorite materials to cut, not just because of its famous diamond-like sparkle (in fact, it is more dispersive than diamond), but because of its hardness and price!
Moissanite is 9.5 on the Mohs scale, and as such is very scratch-resistant and a wonderful stone for everyday wear. Most stones, in my opinion, that are Mohs scale 8 and above are great options for engagement rings -but Moissanite I think will take the cake in this category, in regards to gemstones.
Despite that Moissanite is a “diamond simulant” - I like to think of Moissanite as its own unique gem. I recall seeing a Reddit post where a wearer was embarrassed to tell her friends that her Moissanite was not a diamond, but a cheaper alternative. Say what you will about the societal sadness of this encounter, but I wrote a blurb for the wearer encouraging them that Moissanite is a very amazing gemstone as a standalone, not as an “alternative” to diamond. If you purchase Moissanite - I encourage to do so because of its unique properties!
What is dispersion? Is determines the prism-like effect when white light is split into its visible color spectrum (in layman’s terms, the “rainbow” like effect you see in gemstones).
This is also called “Fire” when talking about diamonds, but us gemstone cutters don’t really use the terms for Fire and Brilliance much in our everyday work.
Light entering the gemstone then reflects back as different visible wavelengths in the spectrum (ROYGBIV).
Refractive Index is part of this dispersion, in which case Moissanite has a higher RI than diamond. This term refers to how the material splits the light, and Moissanite has an RI of 2.65-.69, with Diamond at 2.42.
How does this make a difference? See below
So Moissanite has more dispersion and a higher RI than that of diamond, is cheaper, and makes for a great everyday stone. But what about cuts? What about color? What about clarity?
My Moissanite I cut for clients will usually have zero inclusions and great clarity as it is a lab-grown material.
Regarding cuts, this is an important part of having a truly unique gemstone that an independent cutter can provide. Since we work with unique designs, we can change design height and angles to suit your Moissanite gemstone.
With such a high RI, there do need to be tweaks. I have cut some Moissanite in other popular designs of mine such as “Hibiscus” and “You’re Such a Snowflake” with mixed results. This is due to the angles of the designs and the high RI of the material, in which some designs can look different than their spinel or sapphire counterparts. However, with a lot of testing that I do on my own stones, most designs can look outstanding in Moissanite.
A few of my favorite Moissanite examples that I have cut are below:
Regarding color - there is unfortunately only a specific range of colors available for Moissanite.
Colorless/white (organized by an alphabetical scale like diamonds), and Greens, Grays, Champagne, Blues and Black.
Any other colors that are on the market (such as Purple or Pink) are actually coated with a foil-like substance on a colorless Moissanite to give it the appearance of being a color other than the ones listed below:
Colorless scale
