What Is Cubic Zirconia or CZ?
Cubic zirconia or CZ is the
crystalline manmade form of zirconium dioxide, ZnO2.
Zirconium dioxide is also
known as zirconia.
Ordinarily, zirconia would
form monoclinic crystals.
A stabilizer (yttrium oxide
or calcium oxide) is added to cause zirconia to form cubic crystals, hence the
name cubic zirconia.
PROPERTIES OF CUBIC ZIRCONIA
The
optical and other properties of CZ depend on the recipe used by the
manufacturer, so there is some degree of variation between cubic zirconia
stones.
Cubic zirconia
typically fluoresces yellowish green to gold under shortwave ultraviolet light.
CUBIC ZIRCONIA VERSUS DIAMOND
In
general, CZ exhibits more fire than a diamond because it has a higher
dispersion.
However, it has a lower index
of refraction (2.176) than that of diamond (2.417).
Cubic zirconia is easily
distinguished from diamond because the stones are essentially flawless, have a
lower hardness (8 on the Mohs scale compared with 10 for diamond), and CZ is
about 1.7 times more dense than diamond.
Additionally, cubic zirconia
is a thermal insulator, while diamond is an extremely efficient thermal
conductor.
COLORED CUBIC ZIRCONIA
The
ordinarily clear crystal may be doped with rare earths to produce colored
stones.
Cerium yields yellow, orange
and red gems.
Chromium produces green CZ.
Neodymium makes purple
stones.
Erbium is used for pink CZ.
And titanium is added to make
golden yellow stones.
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