Diamonds became the prime choice of stone for engagement rings in the early 1900s after the British company De Beers introduced them to the world stage through one of their phenomenally successful marketing campaigns.

A famous catchphrase instantly recognizable to everyone is “Diamonds are forever”, which is just one of De Beers’s many successful slogans throughout decades of targeted marketing. It wasn’t just marketing alone that rocketed them towards success, as diamonds are indeed the finest stones we know. This post will provide an overview of all the major diamond alternatives available in the present times and how they stack up against real diamonds.

WHY DIAMONDS?

“Diamonds are forever” comes from their status as the strongest natural material in existence. The properties of diamonds, when compared to other stones and gems, are superior in every aspect, including hardness, sparkle, brilliance, etc. Having already covered diamond properties and composition in previous articles, we’ll keep this short and explain why other stones aren’t great options.

Tip: Diamonds are the strongest natural materials in the world, but they still need to be handled with care. In the event that you knock your ring a bit too hard, you may damage your diamond girdle, or worse yet, you may lose the diamond altogether if the setting’s safety mechanism is damaged as well.

WHY NOT MOISSANITES?

Due to their low hardness, moissanites are not a viable alternative to diamonds. As a matter of fact, diamonds are four times harder than moissanites.

These stones are not white. On average, moissanites have a low colour grade when compared to diamond colour grading. In dim lighting, moissanites are characterized by a brown tint that makes them appear dark.

Moissanites’ sparkles are iridescent in colour. In diamonds, the sparkles are white. The rainbow-like sparkles catch the eye and make the stone seem like costume jewellery.

Moissanites have double refraction. In other words, when looking at a moissanite top-down, one will notice where the facets join. As a result, rather than seeing just one line - the joint - there are now two clearly visible joints.