Zircon

Item Description

Zircon is zirconium silicate and the oldest known mineral on Earth. It has good hardness (6.5 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale) and more importantly combines a very high refractive index (near that of diamond) with strong dispersion— the property of splitting white light into the colors of the spectrum. This makes zircons very brilliant gems with impressive “fire” and a favorite among collectors and informed consumers alike. Cambodian zircon is world-renowned for its different shades, and yellow zircon remains one of the brightest and striking colors available. Yellow zircon makes up a small percentage of the Cambodian material and the color is usually achieved with heat treatment, which we presume is the case here. It is clean, bright, and shows a well saturated honey-yellow color in a relatively large 10.64 carats. This is a very lively stone for a connoisseur gem collection or an especially fine piece of jewelry as zircon is one of the traditional birthstones for December. Due to the high refractivity of zircons, these can be very difficult to video or photograph accurately and will be better in person! (H)