The term lab created diamonds has only one definition but it can have many different meanings to different people. Simply put, a lab-created diamond is exactly what it sounds like, a diamond made by man in a laboratory instead of miles under the earth by nature. These imitations can range from cut glass to the highly popular cubic zirconium and moissanite. All types of lab created diamonds offer consumers a less expensive alternative to natural diamonds, most without losing anything but the status associated with owning an actual diamond. This article will outline the different types of lab created diamonds in order to help our readers choose the right synthetic stones for whatever situation.

Cut Glass

Most people have heard of and seen cut glass costume jewelry. This obviously phony diamond alternative is amazing cheap and worth every penny. Cut glass isn’t seen as often today as it once was but is occasionally offered in costume jewelry settings. The rings, bracelets and earrings made with cut glass are normally very large and extremely tacky. However certain popular costume jewelry designers from the 20s and 30s produced some interesting pieces that are of value to collectors of costume jewelry. The use of cut glass has widely been replaced by the most popular diamond alternative, cubic zirconium.

Cubic Zirconium

Cubic zirconium is most likely the first name people think when the topic of lab-created diamonds is mentioned. By far the most popular imitation diamond substance, some CZs are indistinguishable to most ordinary people. Jewelers and experts in the gem industry can usually tell the difference between a real diamond and a cubic zirconium. If you hear the term Russian Diamond mentioned, don’t be fooled. Russian diamonds are just high quality CZs that even professionals have a hard time detecting without the use of special equipment. Cubic zirconium and moissanites are often paired together as the same type of lab created diamond, but in fact they are different.

Moissanite

Moissanite is a naturally occurring mineral that has similar properties to genuine diamonds but are slightly softer, having only a rating of 9.25 on the Mohs hardness scale. In nature moissanite is called silicon carbide and is extremely rare. Around the middle 1990s, someone discovered how to recreate the moissanite mineral quickly in a laboratory setting. A gem cutter observed the material and realized that cut properly could be used to produce beautiful diamond-like jewelry, at a much lower cost to the consumer. Since that time, Moissanite has become the preferred alternative to genuine diamonds. Despite the fact that moissanite are more expensive than cubic zirconium, about 200 dollars a carat, they are nearly undetectable as fakes expect with the use of highly specialized equipment.