Cubic Zirconia Vs. Swarovski Crystal
Cubic zirconia and Swarovski crystals, what's the difference?
You fell in love with a stunning ring but passed it up because the glittering gemstones you thought were diamonds really weren’t. Worse yet, the sparkling stones were not even the famed Swarovski crystals. You fell prey to some misconceptions about cubic zirconia and what makes the glitter we love in non-diamond gemstones.
So, what’s the difference between cubic zirconia and Swarovski crystals? Both are sparkling and glittery but one is known as a diamond substitute, the other as a naturally crystalline gem. I have a surprise for you: Both are manmade. Both are produced in laboratories. And both are crystalline in the non-amorphous morphology of the substance we know as glass.
That was a mouthful. Let me explain. Swarovski crystals are silicon dioxide with a little bit of lead just like your lead crystal stemware or cognac decanter. Cubic zirconia is zirconium dioxide with a little bit of yttrium, magnesium, or calcium added as a stabilizer.
Hardness for Swarovski crystals is 6 to 7 on the Mohs scale. Hardness for cubic zirconia is 8 to 9, making it as durable in jewelry as sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and approaching the hardness of real diamonds at 10.
Both Swarovski crystals and cubic zirconia can be cut to create sparkling gemstones and colored to any color in the rainbow. Salts are added during their manufacture for color. And both can be faceted to glitter like diamonds with the creativity of any talented gemstone cutter.
Swarovski crystal is made by a high-temperature method of melting silicon oxide powders with lead. The precise process is proprietary, but suffice it to say that the process makes the substance we know as lead crystal. After cooling and cutting, the crystals are coated with metallic coatings to make the already glittery substance reflect light even more.
Cubic zirconia, too, is made by a high-temperature method called skull melting for the hollow copper crucible in which the zirconium oxide powders melt. Cubic zirconia is cut for reflectivity to yield diamond-like sparkle. Unlike Swarovski crystals, cubic zirconia usually isn’t coated.
The untrained eye can hardly tell the difference between a Swarovski crystal and a gem-cut zircon. In jewelry designs, it is even harder to distinguish one from the other. The tipoff, however, is the giveaway coating on a Swarovski crystal or the slightly higher price for a comparably sized, cut cubic zirconium gemstone.
A social stigma unfortunately attaches to anything described as a substitute for something natural or rare. Cubic zirconia suffers the nomenclature of an imitation or substitute for diamond. On the other hand, Swarovski crystals are the lead-containing crystalline version of silicon dioxide but named as crystals, thus incorrectly implying origination in the earth.
Let only your particular appreciation for the glittering reflections of each material guide your preference. You've got nothing to lose but the attractive sparkle such gemstones deliver to your jewelry. There’s something to like about both in that!
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Post Written by Lorraine Yapps Cohen
Jewelry Examiner
Chemist by training, creative by spirit, an eye for innovation, and a passion for gemstones make Lorraine the creative jewelry designer she is. She combines a technical background with her own brand of wire wrapping to yield jeweled creations that speak "today" and say "WOW."
Originally posted at Examiner.com
