What if my Birthstone is a Diamond? Diamond Alternatives

What if my Birthstone is a Diamond?

Alternative Gemstones

Rock Crystal & CZ Facetted Earrings - Click Image for Details 

Diamonds can be very expensive and cheaper lower grade diamonds can be very disappointing in terms of colour, clarity and sparkle. There are a number of natural and lab created gemstones that can be substituted that look very similar to diamonds except that they don’t cost a fortune!

Cubic Zirconia

It is very difficult to tell the difference between a diamond and a CZ using only the naked eye. To the untrained eye, CZ looks identical to a good quality diamond and only under closer inspection, does CZ appear to have slightly less brilliance (or sparkle) than a diamond.

Cubic Zirconia Vine Leaf Earrings - Click Image for Details

Cubic Zirconia is a created gemstone which was originally developed by the Russians for their space program. They were developed as an alternative to diamonds and were used in the optics of their lasers. Cubic Zirconia have a refractive index, dispersion and hardness which is very close to that of a diamond.

Cubic Zirconia Daisy Flower Necklace

Rock Crystals

Historically Rock Crystal have served as one of the better and most readily available diamond stand-ins—so effective that when the Hapsburgs of Austria ruled Belgium between 1477 and 1792 they outlawed mining of rock crystal. No wonder, then, that some experts call rock crystal “quartz-diamond.” The most famous of these quartz-diamonds is rhinestone or ‘Rhine Diamonds’ because they were cut from pieces of Alps rock crystal washed down the Rhine River.

Manufactured Crystals and Swarovski Crystals

Swarovski Crystal isn’t a gemstone, it is a form of glass that’s made at high temperatures by melting silicon oxide powders with lead to form what is known as lead crystal. Swarovski crystals are man-made gems manufactured in Austria. In 1892, Daniel Swarovski invented a machine for making precision-cut lead glass crystals using quartz, sand, and minerals. The exact proportions of these raw materials has remained a company secret.

 Franki