LIGHT OF CHRIST 516 aims to conduct business to the highest level of ethical standards. Equality, ethical craft, and social and environmental responsibility are central to our vision. As a part of our commitment, we use lab grown gemstones for all of our jewelry.

What is Moissanite?

Moissanite is a naturally occurring gemstone made of silicon carbide. It was first discovered by French scientist Henri Moissan in 1893 while studying a meteorite that had fallen to earth. Due to its rarity, moissanite is now lab-created, and it is known for its exceptional brilliance and fire. It’s a great alternative to diamond, which is associated with unethical mining practices.

Moissanite is an ethical and sustainable option for jewelry because it is lab-created, eliminating the need for mining. Traditional diamond mining is known for causing environmental damage and human rights violations. The process of creating moissanite in a lab is much more environmentally friendly and does not harm any communities or individuals.

Not only is it an ethical and sustainable option, but it is also a beautiful and brilliant gemstone. Most people cannot tell the difference between moissanite and diamonds. The GIA (Gemological Institute of America) has stated that lab grown moissanite is “much closer to diamond in overall appearance and heft.”

Key Differences You Need to Know

Brilliance and Fire: Brilliance refers to the sparkle and scintillation of a stone — how bright and white it is. Fire describes all the rainbow flashes of light and color that can be seen when moving the gemstone back and forth. Moissanite has a refractive index of 2.65-2.69, while diamonds have a refractive index of 2.42. The refractive index is the stone’s ability to bend light. Moissanite’s fire is rated at 0.104, while the fire of a diamond is rated at 0.044, meaning moissanite will give off more rainbow flashes of light. 

Moissanite: A Moissanite gemstone is slightly more brilliant than diamonds, and it also features almost twice as much fire, meaning that it has a higher refractive index.

Diamonds: Natural diamonds are marginally less brilliant than moissanite and have two times less fire. However, this depends partly on how the diamond is cut. 

Durability: Durability and toughness are major factors when shopping for fine jewelry of any kind. Gemstones are measured using the Mohs scale*, which ranks hardness from 1 to 10. 

Moissanite: Moissanite gemstones rank at 9.25 on the Mohs scale*, making it a highly durable gemstone suitable for everyday wear and that’s able to withstand surface scratching.

Diamonds: Diamonds are the hardest naturally occurring gemstone known to man, ranking at a 10 in the Mohs scale. 

*The Mohs scale of mineral hardness (/moʊz/) is a qualitative ordinal scale, from 1 to 10, characterizing scratch resistance of minerals through the ability of harder material to scratch softer material.

Color: Color refers to the presence or absence of color visible within the gemstone. Colorless diamonds are considered more valuable due to rarity and demand.

Moissanite: Moissanite can be crafted to be colorless or nearly colorless. It can also be made into different shades of green, gold, gray, pink, blue, purple, and yellow. 

Diamonds: The rarest and most valuable diamonds are completely colorless. However, they can also occur in a variety of colors, including blue, yellow, black, pink, green, and more. 

Clarity: Clarity refers to the presence or absence of small imperfections and impurities within a precious stone. In diamonds, these are called inclusions and are present, to some degree, in all but the rarest and most exclusive ones. 

Moissanite: Because moissanite gemstones are lab-created, they can be made 100% free of impurities or inclusions. A Premium moissanite is similar to a G-H color diamond, while a Super Premium moissanite is in the D-E-F range. As the technology to create a moissanite is so advanced, there is very little variation in their quality.

Diamonds: The vast majority of diamonds will have some degree of inclusions. Even lab diamonds might have tiny but visible blemishes or impurities on or within the stone’s surface. 

Clarity Grading: Almost all stones have imperfections or flaws called inclusions. Inclusions are crystals inside a stone that can be visible to the naked eye or hard to spot even under microscopic lenses. These small white, black, or dark spots develop during a stone’s formation when minerals and gasses get trapped inside it. Since moissanite is a lab-grown stone, it has slight and rarely visible inclusions. The gemstone’s inclusions are invisible to the naked eye or only visible under 10x magnification.

Moissanite stone grades are the factors on which institutes like GIA or IGI assess and evaluate their quality. The four primary grading factors are moissanite carat, color, cut, and clarity. GIA’s moissanite certificate of authenticity groups moissanite inclusions into five categories:

• Flawless (F) or Internally Flawless (IF): Flawless moissanite contains no visible inclusions under 10x magnification. Internally flawless moissanite have inclusions that cannot be seen under 10x magnitude but have tiny spots.

• Very, Very Slightly Included (VVSI): Categorized as VVS1 or VVS2, moissanite with VVSI grading has minor inclusions that are hard to spot even under 10x magnification.

• Very Slightly Included (VSI): Very slightly (VS1 or VS2) included diamonds contain slight inclusions.

• Slight Inclusions (SI): Moissanites with SI1 or SI2 inclusions are easily visible under 10x magnification and, in some cases, to the naked eye.

• Included (I): Even untrained eyes can spot included diamonds (I1, I2, or I3). These inclusions are also visible under 10x magnification.

Price: Price refers to how much you will pay for your gemstones.

Moissanite: Moissanite gems are substantially more affordable than diamonds. The price will depend on the stone’s size, shape, and color. Super premium moissanite tends to be more expensive than regular moissanite but still more affordable than a class D, E, or F diamond. A moissanite ring vs a diamond ring that’s comparable in size and color can cost anywhere between 20% to 50% less. 

Diamonds: Diamonds are notoriously expensive, especially high-quality stones, and only a few survive the journey from the earth’s depths to the surface. Only about 30–50% of mined diamonds meet gem quality standards and can be sold on the market. Diamonds are expensive to produce, from mining and growing to cutting and polishing. The raw materials are also more expensive than in other industries. Key players and institutions control the diamond industry, which limits supply and allows them to control prices. 

GIA and IGI Certification

Not all gemstones are the same. Each gemstone differs in clarity, cut, color, carat, brilliance, and fluorescence. These factors significantly affect the stone’s appearance, quality, and cost. Based on the factors above, institutes that certify diamonds like the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and the International Gemological Institute (IGI), also issue a moissanite certificate of authenticity. Moissanite grading thoroughly evaluates a stone’s overall quality, authenticity, and reliability.

Wrapping Up

Every moissanite jewelry in LIGHT OF CHRIST 516’S collection is tested, approved, and certified. So, you can shop for gorgeous jewelry confidently.