Moissanite is the most common alternative to the diamond. How to identify moissanite from a diamond? It’s tricky for untrained eyes. In this article about moissanite vs diamond, I’m going to reveal a few simple tricks to tell if your stone is diamond or moissanite.

Moissanite is often used in imitation jewelry. The price of moissanite is 10 – 15 % of the diamond’s price.

Secret Ways To Identify Fake Diamonds

So, What is Moissanite?

French scientist, Henry Moissan first discovered moissanite in 1893 from the crater that created by a meteor on earth. He first thought, he had discovered diamond, but later found that these are composed of silicon carbide. However, Henry Awarded with Nobel Prize in chemistry. Hence, it named with Henry’s last name, “Moissanite”.

Moissanite is a gemstone like any other precious stone. It is a crystal form of silicon carbide. Natural moissanite is very rare. Most of the moissanite available today are lab-created.

Learn – How To Identify Man-Made CVD Diamonds 

Moissanite vs Diamond

	MOISSANITE	DIAMOND
Brilliance & Fire	It creates extraordinary brightness & fire compare to diamonds. When exposing to sunlight, you may find it emits rainbow-like disco ball effect light on the surface.	The diamond reflects light in 3 different ways. The light which reflects back on the table is referred as brilliance. Light that jumps in diamonds facets creates a prism effect referred Fire. And the light that creates sparkle referred Scintillation.
Refraction	Moissanite has a double refraction. When you look closely with magnification glass at the stone from the crown, you may find the double refraction of facets which appeals blur effect to viewers eyes.	Diamond never has double refraction properties. It has sharp edges thus never appeal blur when viewed from the top or crown.
Hardness & Heat Resistance	Gemstone’s surface scratching strength is measured on Mohs Scale of Hardness. Moissanite scored 9.25 hardness on the scale, which considered good but a bit lower than a diamond Also, It can survive 1800°C temperature.	Hardness score for a diamond is 10 on Mohs Scale.It is considered one of the hardest mineral on earth. Thus, diamond is a better option for the daily use and center stone in the ring. However, diamond starts burning at 800°C temperature.
Weight	The weight of 6.5 mm diameter stone could be 0.83 to 0.88 carat. Moissanite is 14-18% lighter than diamond.	The weight of 6.5 mm diameter stone could be 1.00 carat or near.
Price	A one carat moissanite could cost between 300$ to 400$. It is comparatively very cheap from diamonds.	Diamonds with the same color, clarity of One carat might cost you around 3000$ to 3500$
Real Photo

Tips – How To Identify Moissanite From Diamonds

Below listed are the easiest tips to identify moissanite from diamonds manually.

1. Double Refraction: As we talked before, Diamonds never has double refraction property. Here game becomes simple, using magnification loupe to see through stone’s crown, you might find blurry edges (joints) which might cause due to double reflection property in moissanite. In the example image, we can see the refraction of facets into stone. Diamond never looks like this, Sometimes reflection into Moissanite is less compared to shown in the above image.
   
2. Check Stone Weight: The weight of Moissanite is 15%-18% less compared to a diamond. Two stone (one moissanite and another diamond) with similar diameter varies in weight. For example, a round diamond with 6.5 mm weighs 1.00 carat, whereas moissanite with a 6.5 mm weight of 0.83 carats.
   
3. Extreme Brightness & Fire: Moissanite has extreme brightness and fire compares to diamonds and cubic zirconia. If you find extraordinary flashes of color, it’s probably moissanite. Fire and brightness in moissanite are two times more than diamonds. Also, another diamond substitute named cubic zirconia has an intense fire.
   
4. Buy Moissanite Tester: Why don’t you invest a few bucks in a tool called Moissanite tester? There are few moissanite testers available on Amazon. Get one of these tools and check whether your gemstone is diamond or moissanite. It cost you around 30$ to 50$ on various e-commerce sites. Don’t forget to check user reviews before buying this tool.

Best Way To Tell Your Gemstone Is Moissanite Or Diamond

• Expert Advice: I always advise to consult gemologist. In my previous post about ” how to tell if your diamond is real or fake“.  I have discussed a few manual tips to identify fake diamonds. But, I highly recommend you to consult a gemologist. You can consult GIA graduate professionals or person with a gemology degree.
  
• Submit Your Gemstone To Lab: Nothing can be best than this option. Simply submit your stone to gemology labs. GIA, HRD, IGI are few of the best gem labs in the world. GIA labs are the most popular and highly recommended. Labs have all the required equipment to check your gemstone chemically, scientifically thus, Lab provides an accurate result of your gemstone.

Harsh’s Opinion – Why You Should Buy Diamond Over Moissanite

I’m not against buying moissanite. But here are my views, why you should buy diamonds. Being in the diamond industry I will surely promote diamond first. But, I will give reasons which make you think twice before buying moissanite for your life partner. If “budget” is the point that makes you choose moissanite over a diamond. Then let me tell you, there is a diamond for almost every price.

Natural Diamond Is More Than Just A Stone, Its A Feeling.

Diamonds are a symbol of love. We all know moissanite sparks more than a diamond, even it’s less than half of the price of diamonds. Then why not buying moissanite instead of a diamond? Well, almost every moissanite today we see are lab-created and not real (natural). So, how would you feel expressing your real feelings, love & caring with a lab-created stone that is just extra shiny? Natural diamond not just hold values, but it is a stone that takes billions of years and a lot of pressure with heat in formation. That’s what makes the natural diamond so special.

Diamonds As Investment

Believe it or not, Investing in some kind of diamond has the highest ROI comparing other investment options. Natural diamonds are rare, hence with the time goes value increases. But, before investing in diamonds, I would suggest taking expert advice. Because not every diamonds will give you good returns in the future. Diamonds are rare and “Investment Diamond” is extremely rare. So, investing your money in “Investment Diamonds” is more worth than putting your money in moissanite which has no/less resale value.

Easy Replace & Quick Cash

Diamond in a ring can easily be replaced with other diamond or even give you quick cash when need. Diamonds are widely accepted in any country. You can visit jewelry reseller and sell your old diamond ring with good money. Moissanite ring is generally less accepted and has no/less resale value.

Over to You – Moissanite vs Diamond

Above stated are my personal comments and are not meant to hurt anybody’s views & feelings. Use below comment box to add your views, suggestion, and question. I would really love to see your views about moissanite vs diamond. I hope this article about “How to Identify Moissanite From Diamonds” helps you to know different between diamond and moissanite.

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Sources & References

• Moissanite Wikipedia – Know here
• Other Information on Mindat.org
• Mineral data on webmineral.com