Caring for your Moissanite

Question: Mia, how do I take care of my moissanite jewelry?

Treat moissanite jewellery the same way you treat diamonds or other precious jewellery items. It’s still considered as a fragile jewellery piece and if you don’t handle it with proper care, the gemstone and the setting could get damaged.

Regular cleaning

For everyday cleaning, soak the jewellery piece in lukewarm water with detergent or mild soap and brush it using an old, soft toothbrush. If you’re cleaning several pieces, arrange them on hooks so that the stones do not bounce against each other. This will help prevent scratches.

I also recommend that you bring your jewellery sets to your Jeweller every six to nine months for professional cleaning and for them to check the security of prong-settings. In our Moissanite Jewellery branches, we offer free cleaning once a year for all purchased items.

Storage and safekeeping

Separate all your jewellery items from each other. Moissanite will not scratch diamond, but it can scratch another moissanite and all other gems. Keep all your moissanite pieces apart from your diamonds, pearls, rubies and other gemstones.

You can keep your jewellery in the box in which it came. Or you can wrap them individually in tissue paper, and then put them in separate plastic pouches for safe-keeping. It helps to write a description or take a photo of the jewellery and stick it outside the case.

I store mine in a velvet-lined jewellery organizer so it’s easy to see each item, and each piece is already separated from each other.

Subjecting moissanite to other stone tests

As with all other gems and jewellery items, never subject your moissanite jewellery to any destructive tests like the diamond scratch pen. Other stone test methods such as rubbing moissanite with sandpaper will in fact damage and scratch moissanite.

I hope this helps. Enjoy your Moissanite jewellery!

Mia

FAQs

• Is moissanite a diamond simulant?

No. For starters, moissanite is a different mineral altogether called silicon carbide, while diamond is carbon. The two gemstones are always being compared, though, because they’re both near-colorless stones. But to call moissanite a diamond simulant is to underestimate its value—and to miss out on a very deserving addition to your jewellery box. Moissanite is a genuine gemstone with its own unique properties and should be appreciated as such. If you love other gems like rubies, pearls and even crystals then you will love moissanite too.

• Is moissanite synthetic?

Moissanite is a naturally-occurring mineral, but virtually all of the moissanite for jewellery is lab-created since natural moissanite is available on earth only in minute quantities. In fact, there isn’t enough of it to make a pair of stud earrings. We had to recreate moissanite for man to enjoy the gem. It was either that or wait for more stars to fall down from the heavens.

• Is moissanite valuable?

Yes. A gemstone in its own right, moissanite definitely has value. It took US $30Million and 14 years of research and development to perfect the process of creating moissanite. It’s not easy and cheap to produce it, thus, its limited availability and distribution worldwide. As a result, moissanite’s price will always be set at a premium compared to fancy or costume jewellery.

In addition, the demand for moissanite has increased rapidly since it was introduced in 1997. Since then, the price of moissanite has continuously gone up. Like diamond and other precious gemstones, moissanite is also a very good investment.

• Is moissanite expensive?

Yes and no. For its qualities that are superior to diamond, moissanite is priced at around 90 percent less than diamonds. But, as mentioned above, it’s not easy and cheap to produce moissanite, setting its price at a premium. A 1-carat diamond is priced at P 250,000, while moissanite is P33,000 per carat.

• How long will moissanite last?

As our lifetime guarantee attests, moissanite will last longer than forever. It is an inert stone, which means its properties will not change over time. It can withstand everyday wear because of its exceptional hardness and toughness. It can also be worn for years with resistance to scratching, chipping, and abrading. Moissanite will not breakdown or discolor with time. It can also resist more heat than diamond. A diamond has been shown to evaporate at 2000 °F while moissanite remains intact.