Moissanite is the world's most brilliant gem. It is a naturally occurring stone that is optically indistinguishable from a diamond although it is chemically and compositionally different. To the naked eye, it is extremely hard to tell the difference between a diamond and a moissanite. Even jewelers may not be able to distinguish between moissanite and diamond without using a loupe (a special magnifying glass used by jewelers). The single greatest visual difference between a moissanite and a diamond is that a moissanite is actually more sparkly than a diamond.

What we think of as sparkliness is really refractiveness, or how well a gemstone can bend the light. Moissanites are more refractive than a diamond with a refractive index of 2.65 vs 2.42 for diamonds. 

Moissanites are durable and strong like diamonds - they are ranked a 9.25 on the Mohs scale of hardness, second only to diamonds which are a 10, but significantly harder than an emerald (7.5) or a ruby (8) or even a sapphire (9). Your moissanite jewelry is designed for years of daily wear.

Cubic zirconia can look somewhat similar diamond when brand new. However, cubic zirconia is not as refractive or sparkly, having a lower refractive index (2.15) than diamonds (2.42) and a much lower refractive index than moissanite (2.65). 

The biggest issue with cubic zirconia is durability. In as few as three months, cubic zirconias will become cloudy and dull. They tend to get easily scratched and this further contributes to the deterioration in their appearance. Cubic zirconia is a great choice for costume jewelry that you may want to wear once or twice a year but its lower durability and longevity make it a very poor choice for everyday jewelry. This is one of the biggest reasons you never see cubic zirconia set in gold or platinum - the stone's lack of durability means it is not worth setting into costly precious metals.

We love lab grown diamonds and sell them for custom orders at extremely competitive prices. While more affordable than natural diamonds, lab grown diamonds are still very expensive stones.

Several companies offer lab grown diamonds today, but prices are still quite high. For example: you can compare our 1 carat solitaire earrings priced at $500 with lab grown diamond earrings which generally start at $2500 for the same total carat weight. When you further consider that our earrings use flawless DEF color stones whereas most lab grown diamond earrings feature I or J colored, VS2+ diamonds which look visibly yellow to the naked eye! Moissanites give diamonds of all calibers a run for their money, but we strongly believe Moissanites will unquestionably outperform these low quality stones! You do not need to be as selective about stone quality in secondary jewelry pieces as you might be in engagement rings, but dipping below a F or G quality diamond is absolutely not worth it in our opinion.

We think for secondary jewelry pieces (eternity bands, bracelets, necklaces, earrings etc), moissanite is an exceptional choice that delivers the same look as a high quality diamond plus lifetime durability for a much more compelling price!

That being said, we think lab grown diamonds are a great choice for engagement rings and we are happy to work with you to design a custom lab grown diamond engagement ring. We're also happy to set any of our pieces with lab grown diamonds instead of moissanite. Please just email custom@mazedara.com

Absolutely! Our founder wears her diamond engagement ring with a moissanite eternity band on the same finger. You cannot tell the difference. 

In fact, when testing out prototypes for this business, our founder wore a diamond stud earring in her right ear and a matching moissanite stud earring in her left ear for three months. Whenever she asked people which earring they liked better, they were confused - everyone thought the earrings looked like a matched set!

We are confident that you will love your Mazedara jewelry pieces. We do not offer returns in the normal course of business but if you feel that you have a problem with your order, please reach out to us and we will work to make it right!

We would be happy to work with you on customizing any of our existing pieces or to create a completely custom piece to your specifications, including an engagement ring. Please look at our custom pagefor more information.

One of our favorite things about Mazedara fine jewelry is that the prices are not high enough to require a separate insurance policy. We, of course, ask you to check the details of your particular homeowner's or renter's insurance policy - but most of the time, items under $5,000 in value will be covered by a base policy.

Jewelry insurance can be expensive (a three carat ring can have an annual insurance cost of $1,800 to $2,000). While we think this makes sense for a single ring, the insurance costs of protecting a number of secondary pieces can add up quickly!

Our customers tend to prefer diamonds for their engagement rings, so our moissanite collection focuses on secondary jewelry. We are happy to design Moissanite engagement rings as custom orders, or we can also design lab grown diamond engagement rings as custom orders.

We focused our business on making affordable fine jewelry pieces in secondary categories like eternity bands, solitaire earrings, tennis bracelets and necklaces.  All of our friends would love to own more of these pieces and to wear them every day, but the prices are prohibitively high when using diamonds, even lab grown.

Mazedara delivers exceptionally beautiful, durable everyday jewelry pieces with a big stone look for the same price as a handbag. Moissanite makes our dream possible!