Cubiczirconia
Cubic Zirconia occurs naturally but is very rare. The manufactured material is therefore synthetic and was introduced to the market as a diamond simulant, often referred to as simply 'CZ'. It has impressive gemstone properties including a dispersion level higher than that of diamond and a bright vitreous lustre. Rough material is cheap to purchase and features a wide colour range that is continuously expanding.
Cubic zirconia is often confused with the natural gemstone zircon because of a similar description. Zircon is a silicate (zirconium silicate, ZrSiO4) whereas CZ is an oxide (zirconium dioxide, ZrO2) they are therefore unrelated.
Properties of the Gemstone and Additional Information
| Gemstone type: | Manufactured (synthetic) material |
| Crystal System: | Cubic (isometric) |
| Chemical Composition: | ZrO2 |
| Colour: | Colourless, pink, blue, brown and other colours in various shades |
| Lustre: | Bright vitreous |
| Pleochroism: | none |
| Dispersion: | High, at 0.058 to 0.066 (diamond is 0.044) |
| Hardness: | 8 to 9 on the Mohs' scale |
| Toughness: | Good |
| Cleavage: | None |
| Density in gm/cc: | 5.6 to 6.0 |
| Double refraction: | None |
| Refractive index: | 2.17 |
Common Treatments
CZ is not normally treated.