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Zircons have two wildly different uses. The first is as an opacifier in ceramics, in which the hard, heat-resistant mineral is used to make glazes opaque. That industrial use contrasts with their appeal to fine jewelers, who fashion clear, blue,...
Zircons have two wildly different uses. The first is as an opacifier in ceramics, in which the hard, heat-resistant mineral is used to make glazes opaque. That industrial use contrasts with their appeal to fine jewelers, who fashion clear, blue, or golden-brown zircons into brilliant, cushion, and baguette cut crystals. Zircons can be heat-treated to turn brown stones blue or clear, although some colors produced by heat treatment are not stable and will revert. In addition, zircons are entirely unrelated to cubic zirconia, which are synthetic gemstones that can be produced in a wide variety of colors to mimic any number of more expensive sparklers, particularly diamonds.
Zircon has been found in the gravel fields of Myanmar and Sri Lanka for thousands of years, and today the best stones are still found in Southeast Asia. Because zircon crystals form in softer types of igneous rock such as granite, zircon pebbles are quite common, although crystals weighing up to 16 pounds have been found. Most of these pebbles and crystals are of the brownish variety described above. Indeed, color is the basis for the root of the mineral's name—"zargun" is Persian for "gold color."
While zircon is divided into "high" and "low" types, either can be used in fine jewelry. Low zircons, as you might expect, are less expensive than their rarer, high cousins. That's because low zircon contains trace amounts of radioactive uranium and thorium, which compromise the stone's crystal structure as the radiation decays. Such decayed stones are described as having a metamict structure, which leaves the stones softer than high zircon and more likely to tinge green within their foundation of brown.
Radioactive uranium and thorium are also what allow scientists to date zircons. As the gemstone's radioactive components decay, they combine to produce lead, and when the amount of lead is measured against the amount of radioactive uranium and thorium, the stone's age can be calculated. For example, according to the Gemological Institute of America, zircons found in Australia are 4.4 billion years old, making them the oldest dated minerals on earth.
Because zircon is almost as hard as gemstones such as topaz, it can be cut into a variety of shapes. Common shapes and cuts include round, oval, and cushion brilliant cuts, rectangular step cuts, and baguettes. That said, zircon is considerably softer than diamond, which is why it must be handled carefully lest it edges chip and facets fracture.
Zircon is one of three birthstones for the month of December—tanzanite and turquoise are the other two. Zircon is thought to be associated with people of high integrity who are steady and unwavering, which may or may not be true. What is known, though, is that zircons can survive eons-long trips into the earth's subduction zones and somehow return to the surface with a memory of what they were before being subjected to all that heat—that's why scientists can date zircons back almost literally to the dawn of time. Diamonds are forever? More like zircons.
Continue readingZircons have two wildly different uses. The first is as an opacifier in ceramics, in which the hard, heat-resistant mineral is used to make glazes opaque. That industrial use contrasts with their appeal to fine jewelers, who fashion clear, blue, or golden-brown zircons into brilliant, cushion, and baguette cut crystals. Zircons can be heat-treated to turn brown stones blue or clear, although some colors produced by heat treatment are not stable and will revert. In addition, zircons are entirely unrelated to cubic zirconia, which are synthetic gemstones that can be produced in a wide variety of colors to mimic any number of more expensive sparklers, particularly diamonds.
Zircon has been found in the gravel fields of Myanmar and Sri Lanka for thousands of years, and today the best stones are still found in Southeast Asia. Because zircon crystals form in softer types of igneous rock such as granite, zircon pebbles are quite common, although crystals weighing up to 16 pounds have been found. Most of these pebbles and crystals are of the brownish variety described above. Indeed, color is the basis for the root of the mineral's name—"zargun" is Persian for "gold color."
While zircon is divided into "high" and "low" types, either can be used in fine jewelry. Low zircons, as you might expect, are less expensive than their rarer, high cousins. That's because low zircon contains trace amounts of radioactive uranium and thorium, which compromise the stone's crystal structure as the radiation decays. Such decayed stones are described as having a metamict structure, which leaves the stones softer than high zircon and more likely to tinge green within their foundation of brown.
Radioactive uranium and thorium are also what allow scientists to date zircons. As the gemstone's radioactive components decay, they combine to produce lead, and when the amount of lead is measured against the amount of radioactive uranium and thorium, the stone's age can be calculated. For...
Zircons have two wildly different uses. The first is as an opacifier in ceramics, in which the hard, heat-resistant mineral is used to make glazes opaque. That industrial use contrasts with their appeal to fine jewelers, who fashion clear, blue, or golden-brown zircons into brilliant, cushion, and baguette cut crystals. Zircons can be heat-treated to turn brown stones blue or clear, although some colors produced by heat treatment are not stable and will revert. In addition, zircons are entirely unrelated to cubic zirconia, which are synthetic gemstones that can be produced in a wide variety of colors to mimic any number of more expensive sparklers, particularly diamonds.
Zircon has been found in the gravel fields of Myanmar and Sri Lanka for thousands of years, and today the best stones are still found in Southeast Asia. Because zircon crystals form in softer types of igneous rock such as granite, zircon pebbles are quite common, although crystals weighing up to 16 pounds have been found. Most of these pebbles and crystals are of the brownish variety described above. Indeed, color is the basis for the root of the mineral's name—"zargun" is Persian for "gold color."
While zircon is divided into "high" and "low" types, either can be used in fine jewelry. Low zircons, as you might expect, are less expensive than their rarer, high cousins. That's because low zircon contains trace amounts of radioactive uranium and thorium, which compromise the stone's crystal structure as the radiation decays. Such decayed stones are described as having a metamict structure, which leaves the stones softer than high zircon and more likely to tinge green within their foundation of brown.
Radioactive uranium and thorium are also what allow scientists to date zircons. As the gemstone's radioactive components decay, they combine to produce lead, and when the amount of lead is measured against the amount of radioactive uranium and thorium, the stone's age can be calculated. For example, according to the Gemological Institute of America, zircons found in Australia are 4.4 billion years old, making them the oldest dated minerals on earth.
Because zircon is almost as hard as gemstones such as topaz, it can be cut into a variety of shapes. Common shapes and cuts include round, oval, and cushion brilliant cuts, rectangular step cuts, and baguettes. That said, zircon is considerably softer than diamond, which is why it must be handled carefully lest it edges chip and facets fracture.
Zircon is one of three birthstones for the month of December—tanzanite and turquoise are the other two. Zircon is thought to be associated with people of high integrity who are steady and unwavering, which may or may not be true. What is known, though, is that zircons can survive eons-long trips into the earth's subduction zones and somehow return to the surface with a memory of what they were before being subjected to all that heat—that's why scientists can date zircons back almost literally to the dawn of time. Diamonds are forever? More like zircons.
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