Moissanite created by Charles & Colvard is a stunning new jewel that has fire, brilliance, luster and incredible hardness unlike any jewel you’ve ever seen.
Moissanite was originally born from a star. However, naturally occurring crystals are too small for use
in jewelry. Using an uncommon combination of art and science, moissanite is now available on earth!

This stunning jewel has a brilliant past. Fifty thousand years ago a meteorite crashed into the Arizona desert creating what is now known as “Meteor Crater.” Fragments of this meteorite were scattered across the desert. Hidden in these fragments was a brilliant secret waiting to be discovered. In 1893, Nobel- Prize winning scientist Henri Moissan began studying fragments of this meteorite from nearby Diablo Canyon. In these fragments Dr. Moissan discovered minute quantities of a shimmering new mineral, with fire and brilliance never before seen on earth.
After extensive research, Dr. Moissan concluded that this mineral was made of silicon carbide. In 1905, this mineral was named moissanite, in his honor. Despite this amazing discovery, since naturally occurring quantities of moissanite are so minute, it would be another century before this stunning mineral would emerge as the brilliant jewel it is today. In the late 1980’s, inspired by Dr. Moissan’s discovery, a North Carolina company called CREE developed a proprietary process for producing large single crystals of moissanite.In the summer of 1995, a master diamond cutter observed samples of moissanite and suggested that properly cut crystals would make a brilliant new jewel. Within days, scientists from CREE and Charles &

Colvard began a three year research project to bring the fire and brilliance of moissanite to earth. Using an uncommon combination of art and science, moissanite created by Charles & Colvard was introduced in the summer of 1998. Achieving, self-confident women in over 60 countries now wear this brilliant new jewel.

Physical properties for moissanite include a hexagonal crystal system
the H-M symbol is 6 mm;
space group is P 63mc;
cleavage is indistinct;
refractive index of 2.65–2.69;
density of 3.22 g/cm³;
hardness of 9.25 and varies in colours usually being graded in the I-J-K range on the Diamond Color
Grading Scale.
Moissanite can withstand pressures up to 52.1 gigapascals.

Silicon carbide has a wide, adjustable bandgap, or a space where electrons can or cannot jump giving the mineral variable conductance abilities which is useful in nanotechnology.