¶ What is Moissanite?
Moissanite is a gem of it's own. It is not a type or name for CZ. It is it's own gem akin to, say, white sapphire or any other gem.
It originates from meteorites and rare lava flows, so it's extremely rare, and over time was recreated in the lab.
Moissanite is made of Silicon Carbide (vs Zirconium Dioxide which is Cubic Zirconia) and possesses many of the properties of diamond. Some of those properties have been enhanced "better" than diamonds - specifically fire and brilliance/sparkle.
¶ Moissanite Sellers - Naughty and Nice List
¶ BAD GUYS
- Atesson
- CGSRing
- Feikfeiz
- Hafeez Center
- Haruic
- JczR.Y
- Jewsace
- Linawe
- Loipuri
- NFYBD
- Obiyos
- Smilest
¶ BUY WITH CAUTION
Will advertise/imply stones are all moissanite but only center stone is (i.e 3-stone ring)
- Cacestone
- Jumper Joo
- Thelanda
¶ THE GOOD GUYS / Brands we should support
Those on this list, in alphabetic order, consistently send moissanite jewelry and honestly represent how much of the jewelry is moissanite i.e. "3 ct center stone" which does imply the rest of the stones, if any, could be CZ. This is honest. If they advertise a 3ctTW moissanite ring, this says/implies that not only the center stone is moissanite but also the remaining carat weight of surrounding stones will be moissanite; it does not mean there's no CZ, it just means there's more than one stone that is moissanite.
- Absolute
- AbsolutePearl
- Aimilee (consistent quality, medium fire, unique)
- Allurii
- AMQUSUPO
- AnuClub
- Attalen
- Bellna
- BlueEve
- CannyCat
- Cherlove
- Cloud
- DayByDay
- DMSF
- DYUNQ
- EcoGems
- Endiso
- Gem's Beauty (very sparkly tennis bracelets & necklaces)
- Gemspark
- Gigajewe
- Hainbag
- Hitlinker
- Holycome
- Homigifty
- ImoLove
- Irroya
- Jianeil
- JL Little Forest
- Johanna
- JXOUYDAD
- Keepstar
- Kosuwo
- KRKC
- KRKCLife
- KRKC&CO Keep Real
- KStyle
- Kuololit
- Ladylike
- Lavale (very high fire)
- Lovflow
- LuxLab
- Luyona
- Metynoom
- MintSwag
- Miraclife
- MomentWish
- MooLake
- Moosea (consistent quality but sparkles/fire varies)
- Mosanshinee
- N9Nemuses
- Oivley
- Ovimia
- Pinaidyins
- Plavos (mediocre stones, wouldn't recommend)
- Pytali
- Raivari
- Riney&KY
- SFERT
- SecreTalk
- Somins
- TKOY99
- Tunzug
- WES (high quality, low pricing)
- Yaresul
- Ynnee
- YosikCase
- YQWHKJ
¶ How do I know what I received is truly moissanite?
Using a Diamond Selector 2 diamond detector, you can test your stones to distinguish between moissanite or cubic zirconia. (If you bought moissanite, you won't get a diamond which is why this works for moissanite)
¶ Can you tell from just a picture if the stone is actually moissanite?
Yes, I and several others in the Bling clique can. If you'd like someone to check a listing photo or a photo of something you bought, post a high-quality, very-clear, face-cut-facing-forward, picture to the Bling group and ask, or tag me (@ChicagoBlondie), or both. We're all happy to help.
¶ Ways to try to sus out fakes
- Is the main sellers picture showing moissanite stone/s?
- On the specs of the item, all over the page and in the pictures, does it say it is moissanite?
- Does it list carat weight? Or does it use an A-scale (i.e. 3A, 5A, or AAAAA, or even 6A)?
- Carat weight = continue to next
- A-scale = STOP, It's cubic zirconia
- Does the listing say it will pass a gem tester?
- Does the listing say it comes with a GRA cert? (true, most of them are fakes but CZ sellers rarely go through knocking them off)
- Does it list and if it's solid Gold as it says, there's no listing of it's weight (which I use to determine the whether the spot price of gold warrants the price of the ring). Honest sellers give you all of the above, incl weight of the silver/gold or ring as a whole. For a 1 ct moissy, even if real gold, I'd say it isn't worth it (too tiny). Do I think you'll get moissy? I actually think it's a 50/50 since they're big on fakes (but those were all sub-100 rings). I give them the 50/50 because the stone is so small (1 ct). But the band shows melee stones too... and my guess is those will be CZ, and that, to me, ruins an over-$200 ring.
¶ How to test small melee stones sold in bulk (not on jewelry). Also works for some necklaces, etc.
First, I'm weary of buying loose stones, because if you look closely at the sellers pics, they put a metal reflector on the back of some of the loose gems - because they're mis-cuts/school cuts/student cuts/etc. The picture sometimes looks blurred when showing the bottoms of the stone = likely has the reflector or is a bad cut overall.
To test one, try sinking it into a soft jewelry tray slot or cut a slit in a makeup wedge. Using your Diamond Selector 2, test a "known piece" of moissy as your source, then tip the probe 45 degrees and re-test the known moissy. If all's good, now test the melee stone at a 45 degree angle on setting 4. If it's CZ it won't jump, or will jump just 1 bar. If it's moissy, it'll jump to red... even if it's small.
¶ Can I test the metal of my moissanite jewelry to see if it's real?
Yes, with practice. Here's the answer I gave someone recently:
Testing the metals takes experience, but you can learn how to do that from Youtube and investing in an acid scratch test kit on amazon for like $25. Most of what we all get on Vine comes as Sterling Silver (full sterling or sterling over brass for cheap jewelry) or White Gold plated Sterling Silver. Occasionally there's Platinum plated Sterling or Rhodium plated Sterling offered.
¶ CZ & the 1A to 5A grading scale
CZ is cubic zirconia and a fake version of diamond. It's made from Zirconium Dioxide. Sellers nowadays will sneakily say in the listing the gem is "Zircon", which sounds cooler and distances them from CZ - but it's still CZ. Issues with CZ include loss of luster and sparkle, especially when subjected to repeated heat, and over time the stones tend to cloud and yellow.
CZ usies the grading scale of 1A to 5A (with 1A being very low quality & 5A having many similarities in sparkle and fire to moissanite). If you see mention of 3A or 5A gemstone in a listing - it's CZ, not moissanite.
¶ To test for CZ vs (diamond vs moissanite)
You simply need a $20ish Diamond Selector 2 tester.
Notice the parentheses in the title. A basic tester narrows down to CZ vs the other 2. After that, visually there are ways to distinguish diamond from moissy. I've helped a few people in the Bling Clique learn how to do it, but it's a lengthy convo. If you really get into moissy like many of us are in this Discord, hit me up and I can help you after you invest in the $20 "Diamond Detector 2" and start some basic research on your own.
¶ How some of us use emoji's on jewelry posted to Brenda as Moissanite, or Diamond:
(most of us refrain from posting brands that consistently sell CZ as moissanite, however, when we do, we use the following)
🤏 for small items (0.5ct/ear, 1ct necklace, 1ct ring /1.5ct cushion ring) or if it's very small for the price.
if the brand has consistently given REAL moissy in the past.
if the brand is known for fakes
if the page details don't likely add up to being moissy for new brands
on items that advertise as or look like possible moissy or diamond but is def CZ. Also so CZ lovers can grab fast too. I'm personally very cautious about ever tagging CZ with a red X unless I'm 90%+ certain.
💸 might be used by some, however I personally only use it when the price is severely inflated (like 200%), as everyone's tax sitch is different
This information has been compiled by @ChicagoBlondie for use on the Discord server. Thank you!