First thing I need you to know: Zircons are in no way related to that sparkly imposter cubic zirconia (CZs could only be so lucky!). BUT like CZs zircons do come in a wide array of
colors. My favorite, and the focus point of today’s blog is blue.
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| Jamie Kate Jewelery rubylane.com |
Blue Zircon IRL
Totally my opinion and I admit to having no evidence to back this theory up, but I think the name "zircon" and its similarity to zirconia has made the general public look the other way when it comes to blue zircons. Heck, prior to becoming a colored stone snob myself, I would turn my nose up at blue zircons. Since my conversion, however, I’ve learned to covet the unique and beautiful blue stone.
Let’s get through the boring nitty gritty: zircons are 7.5 on the
Mohs scale, so they are susceptible to damage, especially near the facet edges. Like with all colored stones, you must be careful wearing it and cleaning. I think at this point if you read through all of my blogs, you’ll think I’m starting to sound like a broken record about that, but it's very important if you want to keep your pretties their prettiest.
Blue zircon is extremely
brilliant and has excellent
dispersion. It was used quite often in older jewelry. Some remarkable vintage pieces can still be found today.
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| Etsy vendor: The Salvages |
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| Etsy vendor: Galaxy Gems |
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| Etsy Vendor: Stowe Gems |
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| LangAntiques.com |
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| LangAntique.com |
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| LangAntiques.com |
Blue zircon can be found in a range of blue tones from very pale to a saturated medium blue. Due to
pleochroism, blue zircon can look slightly greenish when view from one direction.
One of my favorite (and a more unique) features of blue zircon is its eye visible double refraction. Don’t adjust your monitor folks, this is really what some blue zircon looks like. In fact lapidaries (the people who facet the stones) usually cut blue zircons to show this feature off.
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| Etsy Vendor: MS Jewelers |
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| GemSelect |
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| Africa Gems |
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| Africa Gems |
I’ve been noticing that blue zircon prices are starting to go up, so if you’re in the market, always be aware (broken record, anyone?) and remember that knowledge is power. There aren’t any known
synthetics of blue zircon but there are zircon imposters. Blue topaz and synthetic spinel are among the offenders. Aquamarines can look similar to blue zircons as well, but they tend to be less vivid.
Thank you for the read and I hope you all have a blingtastic day!
