What is Cubic Zirconia (CZ) ?
Cubic zirconia is so optically close to diamond that only a trained eye can easily differentiate the two.
Cubic zirconia (or CZ) is zirconium oxide (ZrO2), a mineral that is extremely rare in nature but is widely synthesized for use as a diamond simulant. The synthesized material is hard, optically flawless and usually colorless, but may be made in a variety of different colors. It should not be confused with zircon, which is a zirconium silicate (ZrSiO4).
Because of its low cost, durability, and close visual likeness to diamond, synthetic cubic zirconia has remained the most gemologically and economically important diamond simulant since 1976. Its main competition as a synthetic gemstone is the more recently cultivated material, synthetic moissanite.
In recent years manufacturers have sought ways of distinguishing their product by supposedly "improving" cubic zirconia. Coating finished CZs in a film of diamond-like carbon (DLC) or Amorphous Diamond is one such innovation, a process using chemical vapour deposition. The resulting material is purportedly harder, more lustrous and more like diamond overall: The coating is thought to quench the excess fire of CZ, while improving its refractive index, thus bringing it more in line with diamond. Additionally, because of the high percentage of diamond bonds in the amorphous diamond coating, the finished simulant will show a positive diamond signature under Ramon spectoscopy.
Another technique first applied to qaurtz and topaz has also been adapted to cubic zirconia: Vacuum-sputtering an extremely thin layer of metal oxide (typically gold) onto the finished stones creates an iridescent effect. This material is marketed as "mystic" by many dealers. Unlike DLC, the surreal effect is not permanent, as abrasion easily removes the oxide layer.
