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Zircon fakes

by: bradscopegems( 325Feedback score is 100 to 499) Top 5000 Reviewer
71 out of 71 people found this guide helpful.
Guide viewed: 2016 times Tags: facet rough | rough gemstones | zircon


For the last year, and probably longer, large pieces of colourful crystal, often embedded at one end in a white 'matrix' have been sold on eBay by chinese dealers as 'zircon'.  I purchased two samples and found them to consist of man-made cubic zirconia (zirconium oxide) (easily identified by its high density and distinguished from natural zircon also by the absence of birefringence). I suspect that the 'matrix' is created by fusing some kind of powder to the end of the crystal. I have contacted the dealers and they have continued with their deception. Natural zircon (zirconium silicate) is rare, never found as such large crystals, and is a hundred times more valuable than man-made cubic zirconia.

Guide ID: 10000000003205693Guide created: 03/15/07 (updated 04/16/09)

 
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