Moissanite VS Diamonds: The Ultimate Guide

Moissanite, a gemstone of the people. An affordable diamond simulant, moissanite is a diamond to the naked, common eye. Besides being affordable which plays a lot in its favor, it is also eco friendly, since it’s made in a lab.But Natural diamonds on the other hand have their own charm which lies in their age, something lab stimulants can’t achieve. The value of natural diamonds lies in their scarcity and the fact that they are art. To put it into perspective, when an artist’s actual painting is always worth more than its prints. Similarly, nature’s own art piece, the diamond will always be worth more than its lab made copies.Both the print and the actual art have a different target audience, much like diamond stimulants and diamonds.Read on to know more about The Moissanite, The Diamond, their history, characteristics and the answers to some frequently asked questions!

Difference between Moissanite and Diamond

The moissanite gem is widely rumored to have a higher brilliance than the actual diamond. Well, what exactly is brilliance? Brilliance is the ability of a gemstone to refract light that falls upon it, in technical terms it is the ability of a gemstone to bend light. The moissanite stone has a higher refractive index, which gives it an upper hand in terms of sparkle. (FYI: the refractive index of moissanite varies between 2.65 to 2.69 and that of diamonds’ is 2.419) Moreover, while a diamond lets out a classy ray of white brilliance, the moissanite displays a fantastic rainbow effect. In conclusion, the rumors heard it right, the moissanite indeed has a higher brilliance but the intensity comes at the cost of the color of brilliance.

Next, Diamonds, we know are forever but what about Moissanite?The Mohs is a scale that measures the stiffness of minerals and rates them from 1 to 10. Diamonds, the perfect gemstones, are a 10/10 on the Mohs scale. Thus, they are the choice for wedding and engagement rings owing to their high resistance to depreciation.

But Do Moissanite Last As Long As Diamonds?

The moissanite has a solid ranking of 9.25/10 on the Mohs scale and considering this, if diamonds are forever, moissanite are almost eternal as well.

For more information you can refer to Charles & Colvard who has illustrated the above in greater detail for Moissanite.

This Clear Up The Carat And Cut Aspect But What About The Color And Clarity?

The color of a diamond is graded according to the alphabets. Here D, E and F are gradings given to an almost colorless diamond and considered the best. This is followed by G,H,I and J for near colorless diamonds, K to M for faint color and N to Z for detectable color.

Diamond clarity signifies the number of indentations that a diamond has. For More information on GIA diamond clarity, cut and color, please check our diamond knowledge center.

Moissanite on the other hand doesn't have a separate color and clarity scale and is usually rated on the same scale as a diamond.

Now that you know the various characteristics that determine the price of a gemstone, let’s compare some diamond stud earrings from the Fascinating Diamonds® website, on replacing the natural diamond with a moissanite and a lab diamond.

Resale Value

Besides cut and color, a lot of people consider the resale value of moissanite as compared to diamonds. But Diamonds themselves are notorious for being expensive and yet barely having a resale value and moissanite in this regard has little resale value.This might shine a negative light upon both diamonds and moissanite but only if you take a single-dimensional look at them. And nothing is that simple. Whenever you purchase something, the price includes all hidden costs such as labor, raw material, etc. Similarly, when you buy jewelry, it includes the cost of gemstones, metal base, labor, transport but most importantly the skill of the designer and workers. The moment you purchase it, the hidden costs have been paid for and are deducted from the value of the engagement ring. Thus on resale, you only receive payment for the tangible gemstones and valuable metal.Thus both the moissanite and the diamond barely have a resale value, although that of a diamond is higher. Because the Moissanite costs about one tenth of a diamond and the precious diamond which is quite pricey has very little resale value, it is unjust to expect the moissanite to have any. In our opinion both diamonds and moissanite should not be bought with an investment or resale point of view because you are sure to lose money.That doesn’t mean that moissanite isn’t worth anything because if you choose to resell, it might turn up something but keep in mind the something will be proportionate to what you initially paid for it.

Lab Diamonds and Moissanite

Lastly, moissanite is often called a cheap diamond and in more technical terms a diamond simulant which is often confused with lab grown diamonds. Moissanite and lab diamonds are as similar as moissanite and natural diamonds.But lab diamonds are cheaper than natural diamonds because they are made in a lab on replicating the process of natural formation of a diamond. This removes the rarity and extraction element while retaining the chemical composition. They are more expensive than moissanite because lab diamonds are essentially diamonds and have the same characteristics while moissanite is a diamond simulant which varies from the two in terms of chemical composition, hardness, brilliance and price.To draw a close to this article, moissanite is an affordable diamond simulant that often passes for a real diamond. Affordable and eco-friendly, moissanite rings retain their charm and beauty through the years, much like natural diamond rings. If you want to save a pretty penny, check out our beautiful moissanite rings HERE.Yet the diamond will forever retain its charm and if you want the actual art, check out some of our favorite diamond rings HERE.