Nowadays, not all people can afford to buy jewelry with real gems, therefore, to reduce the cost of jewelry, some manufacturers use synthetic stones as inserts. Zirconium is the most common of them. It was originally called “cubic zirconia”, since it was made in 1976 at the Lebedev Physical Institute of the Academy of Sciences, the abbreviation sounds like the LPI. After the collapse of the Union, the stones began to be exported for sale abroad, so I had to invent a new name - "cubic zirconium".
Today cubic zirconias can be seen in so many jewelry, since they look great as an insert in gold, platinum, silver. Many people believe that zirconium is a gem, but this is not so, although it will not be easy for an inexperienced person to distinguish it from diamond. Get it in the laboratory by chemical compounds. Synthetic crystals are very similar in structure and composition to their natural counterparts; the external similarity is also impeccable. All this is largely due to physical properties, so synthetic stones are not considered to be ordinary imitations of natural minerals. Zirconium, along with precious gems, is singled out in a special group.
Receive cubic zirconia in the laboratory and used to simulate diamonds. Initially, the stones are transparent, but with the help of various impurities they are perfectly painted in various colors. Most often you can see blue, green, cyan, black, yellow and purple zirconium. Thus, jewelers can replace natural stones (emerald, aquamarine, amethyst, topaz, diamond, ruby, sapphire) with cubic zirconia, thereby reducing the cost of the product.
Zirconium is not inferior in beauty to real gems, it plays with its faces, and the refractive index of light is very close to diamond. Visually, even a professional will find it difficult to identify synthetic stones. Large zirconium can be distinguished from diamond by light refraction and low hardness, although its luster is dazzling. But with small cubic zirconias it will be more difficult to find the difference between them and the same small size of natural gems, you will have to try hard.
Unclean businessmen often use synthetic stones instead of real minerals. Zirconium can be colored much better than natural crystals, so often it 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 calculate cubic zirconias. Many professionals agree with the fact that compared to diamond, zirconium stone is much more beautiful. Photos of products with it look rich and flawless. The light refraction characteristics of 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, but they are much cheaper than products with sapphire, diamond or topaz.
