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Introducing
Moissanite Created By Charles & Colvard
Moissanite
created by Charles & Colvard is a stunning new jewel that has fire,
brilliance, luster and incredible hardness unlike any jewel you've ever
seen.
Moissanite
was originally born from a star. However, naturally occurring crystals
are too small for use in jewelry.
Using an
uncommon combination of art and science, moissanite is now available on
earth!
Born
From A Star
This stunning jewel has a
brilliant past.
Fifty thousand years ago a
meteorite crashed into the Arizona desert creating what is now known as
"Meteor Crater." Fragments of this meteorite were scattered
across the desert.
Hidden in these fragments
was a brilliant secret waiting to be discovered.
Discovered
on Earth
In 1893, Nobel-Prize
winning scientist Henri Moissan began studying fragments of this
meteorite from nearby Diablo Canyon. In these fragments Dr. Moissan
discovered minute quantities of a shimmering new mineral, with fire and
brilliance never before seen on earth.
After extensive research,
Dr. Moissan concluded that this mineral was made of silicon carbide. In
1905, this mineral was named moissanite, in his honor.
Despite this amazing
discovery, since naturally occurring quantities of moissanite are so
minute, it would be another century before this stunning mineral would
emerge as the brilliant jewel it is today.
From
the Mind of a Scientist
In the late 1980's,
inspired by Dr. Moissan's discovery, a North Carolina company named CREE
developed a proprietary process for producing large single crystals of
moissanite.
In the summer of 1995, a
master diamond cutter observed samples of moissanite and suggested that
properly cut crystals would make a brilliant new jewel.
Within days, scientists
from CREE and Charles & Colvard began a three year research project
to bring the fire and brilliance of moissanite jewels to earth.
And the
Eye of an Artist
Using an uncommon
combination of art and science, moissanite created by Charles &
Colvard was introduced in the summer of 1998. Achieving, self-confident
women in over 60 countries now wear this brilliant new jewel.
Welcome to a world made
brighter by moissanite, now available on earth.
Unique
Properties
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Moissanite created by
Charles & Colvard has unique physical properties that truly make it
unlike any jewel ever seen. |
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It is generally
accepted that the most important characteristics of a jewel are its
beauty, durability and rarity. |
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The beauty of
a jewel is determined by its color, brilliance, "fire" and
luster. |
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The brilliance of a jewel is created
by cutting designs that use the jewel's refractive index and
is measured by the amount of light that enters the jewel and
is reflected back to the viewer. |
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The dispersion of a jewel combined
with the cutting design results in the "fire," or the
breaking of light rays into the spectrum of colors and is
measured by the amount of colored flashes viewed when the
jewel is moved in various lighting conditions. |
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Luster is the
amount of light that is reflected back to the observer from
the surface of the jewel. |
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The durability
of a jewel is determined by its hardness, or resistance to
scratching, and its toughness, or resistance to chipping or
cleaving. The jewel's hardness also determines the extent to
which brilliance and "fire" can be highlighted by cutting
with sharp, highly polished facets. |
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Rarity is the
availability or perceived availability of a jewel. |
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These important
characteristics are determined by a jewel's physical properties. The
table below compares the physical properties of created moissanite
and four of the most popular natural jewels. |
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Comparison
Chart |
BEAUTY |
DURABILITY |
SPECIFIC GRAVITY |
BRILLIANCE
Refractive Index |
FIRE
Dispersion |
LUSTER |
HARDNESS
Mohs |
TOUGHNESS |
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2.65-2.69 |
0.104 |
20.4% |
9.25 |
excellent |
3.21 |
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2.42 |
0.044 |
17.2% |
10 |
excellent
* |
3.52 |
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1.77 |
0.018 |
7.4% |
9 |
excellent
** |
4.00 |
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1.77 |
0.018 |
7.4% |
9 |
excellent
** |
4.00 |
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1.58 |
0.014 |
4.8% |
7.5 |
good to poor |
2.72 |
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* except good in
cleavage direction ** except twinned stones |
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These photographs demonstrate why moissanite's
superior brilliance and fire make it a jewel whose stunning beauty
is unmatched by any other. Compare a moissanite jewel's brilliance and
fire to any other jewel and you
will see why we say it is unlike any jewel ever seen. |
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A one carat
diamond in water with a high intensity light shining on it.
The effective
brilliance (refractive index) is displayed by the length of
the light specks and the size of the ring of specks in
proximity to the center of the diamond.
The fire
(dispersion) is displayed by the spectrum of color
associated with each speck. |
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A one carat
moissanite jewel in water with a high intensity light
shining on it.
The superior
brilliance (refractive index) is clearly displayed by the
increased length of the light specks and the larger size of
the ring of specks.
The superior
fire (dispersion) is clearly displayed by the deep, intense
spectrum of color associated with each speck. |
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A one carat
moissanite jewel side-by-side with a one carat diamond in
water with a high intensity light shining on them.
The superior
brilliance of moissanite is displayed by the ring of specks
extending beyond that of diamond.
The superior
fire of moissanite is displayed by the intense color
spectrum of the moissanite light specks when compared to the
diamond light specks. |
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Moissanite
created by Charles & Colvard, its superior brilliance and
fire make it unlike any jewel ever seen
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The
durability of a gemstone is determined by its hardness,
or resistance to scratching, and its toughness, or
resistance to chipping or cleaving.
Moissanite
created by Charles & Colvard, at 9.25 Mohs, is second in
hardness only to diamond and incredibly tough. During
the development of created moissanite jewels, extensive
real-world wear tests were performed by women in a
variety of professions, from bank teller to dog groomer
to office worker. These wear tests confirmed that
moissanite jewels out-perform most jewels in terms of
durability. |
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Moissanite created by
Charles & Colvard is by far the rarest jewel on earth.
Naturally occurring
quantities of moissanite are so minute, they are not suitable for
use in jewelry. After a century of research, only one company in the
world is capable of growing moissanite crystals suitable for use as
a precious jewel. Still the process is so complex, that it is as
much an art as a science.
Charles & Colvard,
Ltd. uses our own uncommon combination of art and science to turn
these rare jewel-quality crystals into a very limited quantity of
created moissanite jewels.
The chart below
shows the number of carats of created moissanite produced in 1999 in
comparison to the millions of carats of the other four precious
jewels imported into the United States. |
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From the mind of a
scientist and the eye of an artist, we present Moissanite created by
Charles & Colvard.
After a century of
research, only one company in the world is capable of growing
moissanite crystals suitable for use as a precious jewel. Charles &
Colvard uses our own uncommon combination of art and proprietary
science to turn these rare jewel-quality crystals into stunning
moissanite jewels.
The cutting
specifications for moissanite jewels are designed to maximize the
brilliance and fire inherent in the material. To maximize the light
reflecting from a faceted moissanite jewel requires the design of
shapes with proportions and angles unlike any other jewel.
Using computer
modeling, we create proprietary designs to display the maximum light
reflection based on the optical properties (i.e. fire, brilliance
and luster) of moissanite jewels. A unique version of the round
brilliant cut was the first shape developed applying these computer
models. Recently we designed new fancy shapes that eliminate dark
areas commonly found in other gemstones with these fancy cuts. We
believe these proprietary designs enhance moissanite's physical
properties for the superior optical performance observed in faceted
moissanite jewels. |
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