Cubic Zirconia - A Diamond's Best Friend!_2007

Cubic Zirconia - A Diamond's Best Friend!



Genuine diamond jewelry is being given a good chase by cubic zirconia jewelry. Cubic zirconia or CZ, looks just like real diamond and comes at anything between a tenth and a quarter of the price of a real diamond. Gemstone purists sneer at the cubic zirconia and call it "fake diamond". Apart from the fact that a cubic zirconia is not a diamond, cubic zirconia commands a very large share of the jewelry market and is categorized as a semiprecious gemstone.Cubic zirconia has almost all the qualities of a diamond, albeit in lesser quantities. For example, the brilliance of a cubic zirconia is slightly less than that of a diamond, the clarity of a cubic zirconia is slightly less than that of a diamond, the durability of a cubic zirconia is moderately less than that of a diamond, and finally, the hardness of a cubic zirconia is moderately less than that of the real gemstone. There is a market for real diamond jewelry and there is a bona fide thriving market for imitation diamond jewelry. So there's nothing "fake" about imitation diamond jewelry. In the imitation diamond jewelry market, cubic zirconia is the most valued gemstone, beating other diamond wannabes hollow.The diamond enjoys a unique reputation among gemstones which it has accumulated and acquired over a period spanning the entire history of human civilization. Its value springs primarily from the fact that it is the rarest of rare natural gemstones, and secondly that it is the hardest gemstone. Cubic zirconia, on the other hand, has a much shorter history and so its reputation as a gemstone is quite limited, therefore it cannot match the reputation of diamonds. Apart from that, cubic zirconia jewelry has everything that is sought after in diamond jewelry, albeit in somewhat lesser quantities. The difference is more than compensated for by its very low price, which can at times touch a tenth of the price of diamond jewelry, though very good quality cubic zirconia jewelry is about half the price of comparable diamond jewelry.If you think that cubic zirconia and genuine diamond can be told apart by the casual onlooker, then think again. Cubic zirconia is slightly more colored than the absolutely transparent diamond, and is slightly less brilliant. Even experts can be taken in by the looks of cubic zirconia. The two gemstones will have to be juxtaposed for the diamond expert to tell the difference visually. More telling is the difference in weight by size, cubic zirconia being somewhat less than twice the weight of a diamond. The other difference is in hardness, with cubic zirconia being more brittle than diamond.An interesting aside to this story is that cubic zirconia has no flaws, whereas genuine diamond has its share of natural defects, ranging from the noticeable to the negligible.The cubic zirconia is noteworthy for its close visual similarity with diamond. What is less known is that the similarity doesn't end there. Cubic zirconia has all the qualities that are sought after in a diamond - brilliance, clarity, durability, and hardness. The fact that cubic zirconia has all these qualities at an affordable price, makes cubic zirconia jewelry ideal for general wear, where the intrinsic value of the gemstone is not important.Cubic zirconia can come in handy for dressing up a great outfit and turning it into something elegant and special. All forms of jewelry like earrings, pendants, rings, and brooches are suitable settings for cubic zirconia. Cubic zirconia jewelry will enhance your jewelry collection in a most affordable way. With cubic zirconia jewelry, you don't have to sacrifice or compromise on quality or aesthetics to get that diamond-like brilliance and classic effect.