What's the difference between Moissanite, Lab-Diamonds and real Diamonds?
Moissanite
Natural Moissanite is extremely rare. It is formed from the intense heat of a meteorite impact. Let's hope it stays extremely rare!
All of the Moissanite you see is lab-created from Silicon Carbide. It took decades of attempts to perfectly synthesize it, but in the late 1990s, they succeeded.
In appearance, it takes a trained eye to tell Moissanite from Diamond.
As for cost, they are a fraction of the cost of Diamonds.
Lab-Diamonds
Created in a lab, they are identical to real diamonds. It takes highly sophisticated equipment to tell them apart from diamonds.
In appearance, they are identical to diamonds.
Much more expensive than Moissanite, they are about 60-70% the cost of Diamonds.
Diamonds
Formed deep within the Earth over billions of years. They are pure Carbon and the cost of mining them is reflected in their price.
In appearance, um, they look like Diamonds!
Expensive!