Despite the best efforts of major moissanite retailers and Charles & Colvard, there remains a tremendous
amount of misinformation, poorly educated opinions and conjecture in the marketplace. This page is our
resource for separating moissanite facts from fiction.
Moissanite is very hard -- it is harder than every jewel except diamond. Moissanite jewels are durable and resist chipping.
There is only ONE quality of moissanite - "very good" that is distributed to the public by Charles & Colvard.
That said, each Moissanite jewel is unique and no two are identical. Moissanite retailers match moissanite stones
from thousands of stones for pendants, earrings and bracelets. Some moissanite retailers claim to offer
only the "whitest moissanite" -- but this is a misnomer and simply a marketing ploy.
Only one company, Charles & Colvard, manufactures moissanite. Charles & Colvard purchase SiC crystals
from two major suppliers, Cree Inc. and Norstel AB. But these suppliers do not cut the crystals into
moissanite jewels. Charles & Colvard is a publicly-held company based in Morrisville, North Carolina.
Moissanite IS NOT a diamond nor a diamond simulant. Diamond is pure carbon [C]. Moissanite is composed of
the compound silicon carbide [SiC] Moissanite is a laboratory created jewel. Naturally occurring moissanite
is extremely rare and found only in microscopic crystals that are too small to use in jewelry.
Each moissanite jewel is grown in the laboratory from a moissanite seed crystal. It takes months from
start to finish to grow a single jewel. Created diamonds are grown by a similar process.