Moissanite is a rare, naturally occurring mineral also known as silicon carbide, and was named after Nobel Prize-winning chemist, Dr. Henri Moissan. It was first discovered in 1893 at the site of a massive meteorite strike in Arizona. Natural occurring moissanite is extremely rare. Only a handful of crystals have been discovered, always in extreme environments, such as meteorites, upper mantle rock or as tiny inclusions inside diamonds.

It has the same shape as a diamond, but has a more fiery color and has a different kind of brilliance than diamonds. It is engineered to give the illusion of similarity to diamonds, but is in composition and visually quite different from a diamond. Moissanite has a 9.25 on the Mohs Scale of Hardness (2nd only to the 10 of diamonds), so it is very suitable for everyday wear. A colorless diamond, whether natural or lab created, has a natural body color that contains no traces of yellow, brown, or grey, resulting in a dazzling, bright white appearance, while moissanite can still project a yellow or grayish hue in certain lights.

Moissanites are dramatically lower in price than diamonds, and of course over time less valuable. A moissanite ring can be passed off as a diamond, even though the two stones are different, but a professional will see the difference.

Carat weight	0.5	2
Moissanite Average Price	$1,080	$1,905
Diamond Average Price	$2,080	$11,080