Nowadays, not all people can afford to buy jewelry with real gems, therefore, in order to reduce the cost of jewelry, some manufacturers use synthetic stones as inserts. Zirconium is the most common of these. Initially, it was called "fianite", since it was made in 1976 at the Physical Institute of the Academy of Sciences named after Lebedev, the abbreviation sounds like FIAN. After the collapse of the Union, stones began to be exported for sale abroad, so a new name had to be invented - "cubic zirconium".
Today, cubic zirconias can be seen in a lot of jewelry, because they look great as an insert in gold, platinum, silver. Many people think that zirconium is a precious stone, but this is not so, although it will not be easy for an inexperienced person to distinguish it from a diamond. Get it in the laboratory by chemical compounds. Synthetic crystals are in many ways similar in structure and composition to their natural counterparts, the external similarity is also impeccable. All of this is largelydue to physical properties, therefore, it is not customary to consider synthetic stones as an ordinary imitation of natural minerals. Zirconium, along with precious gems, is singled out in a special group.
Get cubic zirconia in the laboratory and use to simulate diamonds. Initially, the stones are transparent, but with the help of various impurities, they are perfectly painted in various colors. The most commonly seen are blue, green, cyan, black, yellow, and purple zirconium. Thus, jewelers can replace natural stones (emerald, aquamarine, amethyst, topaz, diamond, ruby, sapphire) with cubic zirkonia, thereby reducing the cost of the product.
Zirconium is as beautiful as real gems, it plays with its facets, and the refractive index of light is very close to diamond. Visually, even a professional will find it difficult to identify synthetic stones. Large zirconia can be distinguished from diamond by light refraction and low hardness, although its brilliance is dazzling. But with small cubic zirconias it will be more difficult to find the difference between them and the same small size natural gems, you will have to try hard.
Dishonest businessmen very often insert synthetic stones instead of real minerals. Zirconium lends itself to coloring much better than natural crystals, so it often replaces precious gems. It will be very difficult for an ordinary person to distinguish an original from a fake, but special modern equipment can easily calculatecubic zirkonia. Many professionals agree with the fact that zirconia is much more beautiful than diamond. Photos of products with it look rich and flawless. The light refraction characteristics of cubic zirconia are much higher compared to many natural minerals. The stone is very popular, framed in gold, silver, platinum. Jewelry with it is very beautiful, and is much cheaper than jewelry with sapphire, diamond or topaz.
