Chatham Diamond and CZ Diamonds, are they Real Diamonds?

CZ stands for Cubic Zirconia and it is rarest mineral available in nature. This mineral is widely used in manufacturing the Chatham Diamond all over the world. Cubic Zirconia is a type of mineral that is known as Zirconium Oxide and the chemical formula is ZrO2. Even though they are rare and have scarcity, the Chatham diamonds are cheap when compared to various other minerals.

This article provides the reader with characteristics, advantages and the technical parameters of the CZ Diamond.

The main characteristics, advantages and technical parameters of Zirconium Oxide, which is used in manufacturing Chatham Diamond, are as follows:

Characteristics:

• This synthesized compound is very hard in nature.
• They don’t have any definite color, there for it is colorless.
• Essentially a Cubic Zirconia is a fine material and it is flawless
• Even though cubic zirconia is a colorless material it can be formed into various colors.
• Zirconium Oxide and the Zircon are different materials and are not be related to each other as the chemical formula for zircon is ZrSiO4 and it is Zirconium silicate.

Advantages:

• This cubic zirconium is very cheap compared to other various types of minerals.
• It is durable in nature and can be preserved for longer durations.
• It looks similar to a diamond and is used widely in manufacturing Chatham Diamonds.
• When compared to moissanite, cubic zirconia is more economical to manufacture CZ Diamonds.
• Cubic Zirconium is a type of gem that is frequently used in manufacturing CZ Diamond.
• The other synthetic gemstone that is used in manufacturing CZ Diamond or the Chatham Diamond is moissanite.
• Cubic Zirconia is a diamond simulant and widely used in Chatham Diamonds where as moissanite is a cultivated material.

Technical parameters and aspects

Cubic Zirconia or the CZ Diamond is crystal isometric. This diamond is an isometric material and plays an important role in manufacturing a diamond simulant. This mineral contains around fifteen percent of mole and used in stabilizing the metal oxides. After synthesizing cubic zirconia it changes in to monoclinic crystals and that is used in CZ Diamonds. These crystals are very stable in normal atmospheric conditions. They are then used in Chatham diamond processing industries.

Parameters of cubic zirconia include:

• It has a specific gravity of around 5.6 to 6.and at the same time is a dense substance.
• When comparing other materials it is relatively hard and that helps in forming CZ diamonds.
• The refractive index of this material is 2.15 to 2.18
• Cubic zirconia is brittle in nature.
• When an ultra violate ray is passed through the CZ diamond it produces yellow or the greenish yellow light.

The cubic zirconia is similar in nature and has characteristics of a real diamond and that is why it is used in processing Chatham Diamonds. If both the materials are kept near to each other; it is very difficult to distinguish between the two materials. Only with help of microscope one can find out which is a real diamond or the CZ Diamond.

The major differences between cubic zirconia and the real diamond are dispersion, hardness, specific gravity and the refractive index properties. The minor differences between both these forms are its cutting edges and the flawless properties.