Support


Commonly Marketed Diamond Alternatives

If you are in the market looking for a diamond alternative, you will find that there are dozens of gemstones marketed under a myriad of creative names. We know this can be very confusing, especially if you are just learning about diamonds and gemstones. We provide the following list of the more commonly marketed gemstones to assist you in your search.

Upon closer inspection, you will notice that all of these gemstones fall into three categories:

  1. Diamond
  2. Moissanite
  3. Cubic Zirconia or CZ.

Unfortunately, some sellers of CZ jewelry may be dishonest regarding their scientific claims, and some may even deny that their gemstones are CZ. This raises questions as to why they would not be transparent about their products. For information about how the properties of CZ fall short of Moissanite, please refer to the 'Moissanite vs CZ' section.

One seller of CZ jewelry, DiamondNexusLabs.com, has gone to great lengths to deceive consumers, prompting us to provide a more detailed analysis of their CZ jewel as a public service. You can find further information by clicking the link provided.

Click here to learn more.

NAME MARKETED TRUE IDENTITY CHEMICAL COMPOSITION HARDNESS REFRACTIVE INDEX
C&C MOISSANITE moissanite SiC silicon carbide 9 1/4 2.65-2.69
AMORA MOISSANITE moissanite SiC silicon carbide 9 1/4 2.65-2.69
ASHA DIAMOND® enhanced cubic zirconia CZ+C+ Optical layer cubic zirconia 9 2.2-2.24
MIA DONNA enhanced cubic zirconia CZ+C+ Optical layer cubic zirconia 9 2.2-2.24
CARAT* cubic zirconia Zr02 cubic zirconia 8 1/2 2.15
DIAMOND AURA cubic zirconia Zr02 cubic zirconia 8 1/2 2.15
DIAMOND ESSENCE cubic zirconia Zr02 cubic zirconia 8 1/2 2.15
DIAMOND NEXUS LABS cubic zirconia Zr02 cubic zirconia 8 1/2 2.15
DIAMONIQUE cubic zirconia Zr02 cubic zirconia 8 1/2 2.15
FANTASIA cubic zirconia Zr02 cubic zirconia 8 1/2 2.15
GEMESIS DIAMONDS synthetic diamond C carbon 10 2.417
LAB-DIAMONDS.COM cubic zirconia Zr02 cubic zirconia 8 1/2 2.15
LANNYTE cubic zirconia Zr02 cubic zirconia 8 1/2 2.15
RUSSIAN BRILLIANTS cubic zirconia Zr02 cubic zirconia 8 1/2 2.15
SITARA GEM cubic zirconia Zr02 cubic zirconia 8 1/2 2.15
SONA DIAMOND cubic zirconia Zr02 cubic zirconia 8 1/2 2.15
ZIAMOND cubic zirconia Zr02 cubic zirconia 8 1/2 2.15
BRIOLITE cubic zirconia Zr02 cubic zirconia 8 1/2 2.15
AGAPE DIAMONDS cubic zirconia Zr02 cubic zirconia 8 1/2 2.15
VERDALLI (also AGAPE, ManMadeDiamondsUsa.com) cubic zirconia Zr02 cubic zirconia 8 1/2 2.15
Labmadediamonds.com cubic zirconia Zr02 cubic zirconia 8 1/2 2.15