About moissanite

Moissanite is a gemstone you may not have heard of before, but in recent years it has become increasingly popular thanks to its high quality and its likeness to diamond.

Moissanite is a naturally occurring gemstone discovered in 1893 by the French Nobel Prize-winning chemist Dr. Henri Moissan. It is believed that moissanite originally came to Earth via meteorites.

Natural moissanite is extremely rare (rarer than natural diamond). That is why the vast majority of moissanite is created in a laboratory.

Visually identical to a diamond

  • To the human eye, it is impossible to tell moissanite and diamond apart.

  • You need a diamond/moissanite tester to measure the difference. In fact, a diamond tester based on thermal conductivity will wrongly register moissanite as diamond, because the two stones are so alike.

The world's second-hardest gemstone

  • After diamond, moissanite is the hardest gemstone in the world. It measures 9.25/10 on the Mohs hardness scale.

The world's most brilliant gemstone

  • Moissanite has more brilliance than diamond. When light hits a diamond, the same white light is refracted and reflected back out of the stone. When light hits moissanite, however, it splits in two, which increases the refraction.

  • Moissanite has a refractive index of 2.69 (compared with diamond's 2.42) – noticeable to a moissanite tester, but not to the human eye.

More "fire" than diamonds

  • "Fire" is a gemstone's ability to disperse white light into the colours of the rainbow.

  • Moissanite has more "fire" than diamond, with a value of 0.104 (compared with diamond's 0.044).

  • Moissanite has 5–7 times more "fire" than ruby, sapphire and emerald respectively.

  • This means moissanite outshines almost every other gemstone in the world.

An ethical alternative to a troubled diamond industry

  • Sadly, the diamond industry has been linked to many tragic problems, including serious human rights abuses. Poor planning and organisation have also caused major environmental damage, with land and water so badly affected that entire ecosystems have collapsed.

  • Our moissanite is a 100% ethical, conflict-free material that is almost identical to diamond. It is not mined but grown in a laboratory (each moissanite gemstone takes 2–3 months to grow). This makes it far easier for us to ensure ethical practices around our moissanite and to check the quality of every single stone. Natural moissanite is extremely rare and often has inherent flaws.