What do you think of natural zircons ?

[andreagreene]

I was thinking to buy a 4 carats gem for a ring, even if I’ve seen a pretty blue acquamarine too at the same place, but I don’t think it will look that blue in natural light … Your thoughts?

 

[Karl_K]

I would not put zircon in an everyday ring.
How often and were do you plan on wearing it?

 

[lovedogs]

If you are getting zircon, I'd avoid wearing it daily. I'd also get a precision cut (not like the ones you have above) to avoid leakage.

 

[seaurchin]

A blue tourmaline would also be more durable than zircon. I think some blue topaz is untreated, as another possible option if you don't like the treated stuff.

I have a blue zircon and love it but I made sure it was prong set so if it gets too abraded to look good, I can replace it with a different gem and not waste the setting.

 

[seaurchin]

Here's a quick shot of mine fwiw:

 

[Autumn in New England]

I love the brilliance and fire of zircon (along with the double refraction). It has good hardness (around 7.5), but as everyone has pointed out, it's brittle and prone to chipping/facet abrasion. So if worn in a ring, care has to be taken. But it's a beautiful stone!

 

[Autumn in New England]

P.S.

 

[fredflintstone]

Zircon is fine for a ring, but care must be taken as it can be a hair brittle. Heated Zircons such as Blues are more brittle because they are heated at higher temperatures than other Zircons. Unheated Zircon is not as brittle. All blue Zircon is heated, though some fine blues were found in Malawi blue out of the ground not heated by man.

I would not be to concerned about putting Zircon in a ring, just take care of it. Something many don't know is Diamond is brittle. It also has perfect cleavage. A good knock can cleave Diamond. Does that stop from people buying Diamond? No. Sapphire, Chrysoberyl and Spinel is a much tougher stone than Diamond.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

I am a fan of zircon - the blues are stunning. But it will scratch and as others have said - can break, so not an ideal everyday ring.

I would not be to concerned about putting Zircon in a ring, just take care of it. Something many don't know is Diamond is brittle. It also has perfect cleavage. A good knock can cleave Diamond. Does that stop from people buying Diamond? No. Sapphire, Chrysoberyl and Spinel is a much tougher stone than Diamond.

Fred a couple of points.
In 48 years experience I see more girdle chipping on sapphires and rubies than on diamonds.
Most daily worn sapphires require repolishing of crown scratches after 10-15 years. Diamonds do not.

But more up your ally - people often claim heated corundum is more fragile than unheated. To me this sound wrong and is hearsay repeated.
Heating sapphire can heal fissures and in my guess should make them tougher?
Do you have experience or an opinion Fred?

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

This is purely anecdotal but I have two zircon rings and they are fine. Not a scratch after many years. That said I only wear them out for a few hours at a time, not as an everyday ring.

 

[fredflintstone]

I am a fan of zircon - the blues are stunning. But it will scratch and as others have said - can break, so not an ideal everyday ring.

Fred a couple of points.
In 48 years experience I see more girdle chipping on sapphires and rubies than on diamonds.
Most daily worn sapphires require repolishing of crown scratches after 10-15 years. Diamonds do not.

But more up your ally - people often claim heated corundum is more fragile than unheated. To me this sound wrong and is hearsay repeated.
Heating sapphire can heal fissures and in my guess should make them tougher?
Do you have experience or an opinion Fred?

People heat Sapphire and Ruby to heal fractures, among other enhancements. So, you could say that the heated stones are now more stable than they were before, but I must say Sapphires and Rubies that need no treatment are tougher, more stable than ones that needed to be heated in the first place.

I'll take your word for it Gary, about your experience with Diamonds, but.. You cannot get around Diamonds perfect four way cleavage. Corundum, Chrysoberyl and Spinel have no cleavage and are tougher stones. They will take knocks that would cleave a Diamond. But Jade with its interlocking micro crystals is the toughest gemstone.

The main thing is everyone is different when wearing and taking care of their gemstone jewelry. Some people are very hard on jewelry while others can wear jewelry a lifetime and it looks great. Also depends on how much they wear their jewelry. Every day, two or three times a week or three or four times a month…

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Fred the theory is good.
But after seeing a few million well worn rings I am afraid the applied trumps the theory.
There are a much higher percentage of chipped sapphires than diamonds.
The cleavage is far less common than simple conchoidal girdle chips on both diamond and sapphires.
This is one of the few in a google search that has cleaved:

This is typically what appraisers and repair houses see:

 

[caf]

Love them.

 

[fredflintstone]

Fred the theory is good.
But after seeing a few million well worn rings I am afraid the applied trumps the theory.
There are a much higher percentage of chipped sapphires than diamonds.
The cleavage is far less common than simple conchoidal girdle chips on both diamond and sapphires.
This is one of the few in a google search that has cleaved:

This is typically what appraisers and repair houses see:

Well, we will just have to agree to disagree.

Diamonds cleave, a fact of the gemstone species. That is different than chipping.

Also, Diamonds are not heated. 99% of Sapphire and Rubies are. Now you match the unheated corundum with Diamonds and I'm sure you will find Diamonds chip a lot more. Heating corundum is no guarantee of better stability than corundum that does not need to be heated. Just like a heated Zircon, more brittle.

I'll tell you a true story. I've have a Burma red Spinel ring for over 20 years. The stone looked like new for years and years and I wore it countless times. I was at a High School reunion and tripped over one of those ankle high bicycle racks in the dark. Fell very hard to the ground. People surrounded me asking if I was alright. I said, “I don’t know, give me a minute.” I was ok but really hit my hip hard. Now to the point of the story. My Spinel ring smacked hard on one of the steel bicycle racks, I still remember hearing it clink on the metal. A few days later I noticed a small chip in the crown facet of the Spinel but only under bright direct light. Now, if the Spinel was a Diamond, it would've been smashed. I still wear that Spinel ring today and love it as much as when I first got it.

 

[PrecisionGem]

I used to know a cutter whose sole business was repairing chipped diamonds. He always had a backlog of work.

When my wife's friends would come over and want to look at their diamond under my microscope, they were always horrified at what they saw, and all thought that diamonds were indestructible.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

We repolish around 10 times more sapphires and rubies than diamonds.
There are many more diamonds worn every day.
Here is a concert damage done by a diamond and sapphire ring worn on different hands caused by clapping.

There is no diamond cleavage - just a chip, but the sapphire came out worse.

I have asked Shane McLure and many others to do rumble testing with unheated and heated sapphires but no one with money seems interested to prove the heated is more fragile than unheated.

 

[fredflintstone]

We repolish around 10 times more sapphires and rubies than diamonds.
There are many more diamonds worn every day.
Here is a concert damage done by a diamond and sapphire ring worn on different hands caused by clapping.

There is no diamond cleavage - just a chip, but the sapphire came out worse.

I have asked Shane McLure and many others to do rumble testing with unheated and heated sapphires but no one with money seems interested to prove the heated is more fragile than unheated.

Conjecture Garry. Clapping at a concert. How do you know that happened at a concert or which stone was hit more or harder? Btw, the Diamond chip looks to be much larger.

As I wrote before, "we will have to agree to disagree. Diamond toughness is only rated as "good," while corundum is rated at "excellent."

From renowned lapidary John Dyer.

https://www.johndyergems.com/gemstone-hardness-and-durability.html

Gemstone Durability Factors

Diamond is the hardest natural gem, yet it can chip and split. For example, John's grandmother broke her 3-carat diamond while washing dishes by accidentally hitting it against the side of a stainless-steel sink. That happened because diamonds have four directions of perfect cleavage, which is the ability for a mineral to split along flat crystal planes where the atomic bonding is weak. A gemstone may have one or more directions of cleavage, which are described as perfect (almost perfectly smooth), distinct, good, fair or poor.

Toughness: the resistance of a gem to breaking, chipping or cracking. This is a different property than hardness. Jade is a relatively soft gem material (6-7), yet it has the potential of being the toughest gem when it is very pure and free of fractures. As another tough gem, sapphires are a popular choice for engagement rings because they have a high resistance to scratching and an excellent toughness rating. In addition, they come in a wide range of colors and often have a high clarity.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

The sapphire is 3 times the size of the diamond.
There were hundreds of dents on the bands made by the alternate ring.
And I know as I have seen it many times Fred.

Fred you often trot out "experiance" and I don't question your relevant experiance and wisdom.
How many tens of or hundreds of thousands of repairs have you booked in?
How appraisls? I have done +50,000 and supervised maybe many more over 50 years.

 

[fredflintstone]

The sapphire is 3 times the size of the diamond.
There were hundreds of dents on the bands made by the alternate ring.
And I know as I have seen it many times Fred.

Fred you often trot out "experiance" and I don't question your relevant experiance and wisdom.
How many tens of or hundreds of thousands of repairs have you booked in?
How appraisls? I have done +50,000 and supervised maybe many more over 50 years.

As I wrote, "we'll agree to disagree."

Nothing more to be said. Time to move on.

Have a good day, Garry.

 

[PrecisionGem]

The sapphire is 3 times the size of the diamond.
There were hundreds of dents on the bands made by the alternate ring.
And I know as I have seen it many times Fred.

Fred you often trot out "experiance" and I don't question your relevant experiance and wisdom.
How many tens of or hundreds of thousands of repairs have you booked in?
How appraisls? I have done +50,000 and supervised maybe many more over 50 years.

50,000 repairs in 50 years? That comes out to 38 per day! Wow. You must have one busy shop.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

50,000 repairs in 50 years? That comes out to 38 per day! Wow. You must have one busy shop.

2 shops and 4 to 6 at the bench