In our time, not all people can afford to buy jewelry with real gems, so to reduce the cost of jewelry, some manufacturers use synthetic stones as inserts. Zirconium is the most common of them. Initially it was called "phianite", because it was manufactured 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, the stones began to be exported for sale abroad, so I had to invent a new name - "cubic zirconium".
Today phianites 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 it is not so, although it is not easy for an inexperienced person to distinguish it from a diamond. Get it in the laboratory by chemical compounds. Synthetic crystals in structure and composition are similar in many respects to natural analogs, external similarity is also flawless. All this is largely due to the physical properties, so it is not customary to consider synthetic stones as the usual imitation of natural minerals. Zirconium, along with precious gems, is singled out as a special group.
Obtain phianite under laboratory conditions and use it to simulate diamonds. Initially, the stones are transparent, but with the help of various impurities they are perfectly colored in different colors. Most often you can see blue, green, blue, 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 in beauty is not inferior to real gems, it plays with its sides, and the refractive index of light is very close to diamond. Visually, even a professional will find it difficult to identify synthetic stones. Zirconium of large size can be distinguished from diamond by light refraction and low hardness, although its brilliance is dazzling. But with small cubic zirkonia it will be more difficult to find the difference between them and the same small size with natural gems, it is necessary to try hard.
Unclean dealers very often replace synthetic minerals with synthetic stones. Zirconium can be colored much better than natural crystals, so it often replaces precious gems. It will be very difficult for a simple person to distinguish the original from a fake, but special modern equipment will easily calculate cubic zirconia. Many professionals agree with the fact that in comparison with a diamond is much more beautiful zirconium stone. Photos of products with him look rich and flawless. The refractive index of light in cubic zirconia is much higher in comparison with many natural minerals. The stone is very popular, framed in gold, silver, platinum. Jewelry with it is very beautiful, and are much cheaper than items with sapphire, diamond or topaz.