The Durability of Moissanite

The durability of a gemstone is determined by its hardness, or resistance to scratching, and its toughness, or resistance to chipping or cleaving.

Moissanite created by Charles & Colvard, at 9.25 Mohs, is second in hardness only to diamond and incredibly tough. During the development of created Moissanite jewels, extensive real-world wear tests were performed by women in a variety of professions, from bankteller to dog groomer to office worker. These wear tests confirmed that Moissanite jewels out-perform most jewels in terms of durability.

Superior Heat Resistance

Moissanite created by Charles & Colvard has heat resistance properties superior to many other jewels, offering the following distinct advantages for using Moissanite in fine jewellery.

Moissanite jewels can be cast in place, allowing the jewellery designer to offer innovative, exact-fit designs.
Moissanite jewels are less likely to experience heat damage during jewellery repair operations.
Moissanite jewels can survive the extreme temperatures found in typical house fires.

The following pictures demonstrate the superior heat resistance of created Moissanite jewels compared to diamond.

A Moissanite jewel and a diamond are placed in a high temperature oven. The temperature in the oven is increased and a flow of oxygen is introduced.

As the oven reaches 1100°C, the diamond catches fire and begins to vaporise. At this point, the heat to the oven is turned off and the diamond will continue to burn until . . .