Moissanite

Moissanite is silicon carbide — discovered in 1893 by Henri Moissan inside a meteor crater. Natural moissanite is vanishingly rare; every moissanite sold today is lab-grown, originally by Charles & Colvard under patent through 2018 and now by multiple producers.

Mohs 9.25 puts moissanite between sapphire (9) and diamond (10). For durability purposes, it’s an excellent stone — harder than any gemstone except diamond, immune to chipping at normal-wear impact, and heat-tolerant.

Optical performance

Moissanite is optically distinct from diamond and trades-off differently:

The two practical differences a buyer will notice:

• More rainbow flash — moissanite’s dispersion is ~2.4× higher than diamond’s. In sunlight you’ll see distinct spectral colors flashing out of the stone. Diamond gives whiter, more contained sparkle.
• Faint warmth in larger sizes — moissanite reads slightly yellow-green-tinted compared to a colorless diamond, especially in stones over 1 carat. Premium grades (“Forever One D-E-F”) are essentially colorless.

When moissanite is the right choice

• You want a large center stone (2+ carats) on a budget. Moissanite at that size is 10–15 % the cost of a natural diamond, 25–40 % the cost of a lab-grown diamond.
• You actively prefer more fire and don’t mind the rainbow color separation.
• You want a daily-wear-rugged stone and care about hardness more than resale or trade.

When it isn’t

• You want the cultural pedigree of “diamond” specifically. Despite the chemistry, moissanite reads as a different stone.
• You’re trying to fool the trained eye. A jeweler will spot moissanite in seconds from the rainbow flash alone.
• You expect to trade up or resell at meaningful value. Moissanite doesn’t have a secondary market the way diamonds do.