Over the years, the jewelry industry has benefited from industrial research done for purposes well outside the scope of gemstones. For instance, the lab-created diamonds we have today are the result of research that started during World War II due to the need for industrial diamonds for war production. The same concept holds for another gem material of growing importance: Created Moissanite.
Natural moissanite offers important properties for industrial applications but is extremely rare. It is found mainly in meteorites, so it is unavailable from normal mining sources on Earth. Moissanite is composed of silicon carbide (SiC), which has been used in industrial applications such as sandpaper, grinding wheels, and saw blades since the 19th century (Britannica.com). But moissanite is very rarely available in crystalline form. It is this same silicon carbide that is the foundation of our Story of Created Moissanite.
The History of Created Moissanite
In the early 1980s, a computer development company called Cree, Inc. was developing semiconductors for use in computers. They developed a proprietary process for producing large crystals of silicon carbide, which is also known as moissanite. (see image above) A few years later, in 1995, a gem cutter examined samples of these lab-created moissanite crystals and suggested to Cree that the material could be faceted and create a new type of gemstone. Created Moissanite. This led to the creation of the Charles and Colvard company which produced gem quality Created Moissanite under U.S. Patent #US5723391A. (charlesandcolvard.com)
Over the next twenty years, Charles and Colvard worked diligently to market this new gem material, which presented both opportunities and problems.
The Problems
The first problem was that created moissanite caused a level of panic in the industry since the refractive index of moissanite is 2.67, well above the reading limit of the gem refractometer. (Nassau, 2000). Furthermore, it has a specific gravity of 3.22, which is very close to diamond’s specific gravity of 3.52. Beyond that, created moissanite will most often test as a diamond in thermal diamond testers. All of this served to create a significant level of panic in the jewelry industry due to the perceived difficulty in identifying the material. But this was only because most failed to look at one important property of created moissanite that made identification quite easy: Birefringence. Created moissanite exhibits strong birefringence, making the identification quite easy (we will discuss this in just a minute). The problem was (and is) that most retail jewelers do not get training in gem identification, so panic ensued about this new gem material.
Charles and Colvard resolved the problem by developing their own created moissanite tester, which cost around $500 at the time. Some of us gemologists back then speculated that C&C (as they came to be called) was making more money selling testers than creating moissanite. Whatever the situation, the problem was solved.
The other problem was the early production of created moissanite had a strange green tint to it, which was eventually resolved but was indeed an issue in the early days.
The Opportunities
Created Moissanite presents two important factors that created amazing opportunities. First, it was highly dispersive. It would produce what we call the “flash for the cash” that until then only a diamond could produce. Since created moissanite has a dispersion of .104, which is well above the diamond’s .044, the new gem material was more brilliant.
Second, created moissanite is crystallized silicon carbide, which has a hardness of 9 on the Mohs Scale. I realize that it is listed as 9.25 on the scale, but those who understand the true Mohs Scale know there is no such thing as a 9.25 on the scale. It is relative from one number to the next, not proportional between numbers. Otherwise, a diamond would be 40 on the Mohs Hardness Scale. But more on that issue in an upcoming newsletter.
So, Charles and Colvard had a new gem material that was very beautiful, very durable, and very plentiful, but their exclusive market had a very specific expiration date on it.
Patent Expired
Patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) have a maximum 20-year life. After that, no more patent protection. Everyone can go in and read your patent and read how you made whatever you patented and start making it for themselves. Sucks, I know, but that is how it works. And the Chinese gem producers knew it also and pounced!
Although Charles and Colvard’s patent was transferred to Wells Fargo Bank in June 2014, the patent expired on August 31, 2015, and the process became open to the market.
The Chinese gem producers took Charles and Colvard’s patented process to manufacture created moissanite, expanding it with many different colors now available.
Here you see a color panel of available created moissanite available from one of our ISG suppliers in Chengdu, China. The manufacturers there have taken the production of created moissanite to a totally new level of creativity.
Identification Made Easy…(well, sort of easy)
For many years, the identification of created moissanite was fairly easy. Below is a slide presentation that looks at this method. Using a simple 10x jeweler’s loupe, it is possible to look through the star facet of the gem and see the strong facet doubling due to the high birefringence. I used higher magnification here to photograph this.
This, however, is not as easy with the new production of created moissanite.
First, the production and cutting methods of created moissanite and the new colors can make it quite difficult to see the facet doubling through the basic jeweler’s loupe. Even using a good gemological microscope can be a challenge. So, while the presence of facet doubling will confirm the identity of created moissanite from diamond or cubic zirconia, the lack of this visible indicator should not be considered conclusive.
Second, given the refractive index above the limit of a refractometer and its very brilliant nature, the newly created moissanite can look very much like a diamond. The old problem of slight tint has been completely removed, so the gems are now completely colorless.
Some may be inclined to use the new Crossed Polarizing Filters test that has become standard for separating lab-created from earth-mined diamonds. Be aware that in Crossed Polarizing Filters, a created moissanite will react the same as an HPHT-created diamond, as seen at left. This is definitely a test not to use to try to separate created moissanite from diamond.
Today the most accurate created moissanite tester I have found is the GemOro Pro-M 3 from Sy Kessler Sales for around $119. This unit will identify even the newest developments of created moissanite production coming out of China.
Click on the image to learn more about this important tool from our trusted ISG Community Member.
Conclusion
There is a market for every gem material out there as long as that material is properly represented to the customer. This includes created moissanite. There are dealers right now making huge profits selling jewelry exclusively with created moissanite. At least two in our own ISG community. It is a highly viable gem material with many strong attributes and most of all provides your customers with an affordable way to get that “flash at the party” that jewelry is really all about.
I urge you to open your scope of vision, increase your revenue stream, think about adding created moissanite to your inventory. It’s cheaper than diamonds, more brilliant than cubic zirconia, and the only gem material that shares a saw blade as a sister product.
OK, I just had to throw that in.
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