Diamond, is that with a D or a Z?

[PryncessChrysty]

The other day my girlfriend told me about a girl who bought a white gold cubic zirconia ring set for her wedding. She did this so that she could pay for her wedding without worries and get settled into a home. Once everything was squared away, she bought the real thing. Out of curiosity I looked it up on the internet and found that there are TONS of choices out there, so this must be popular, right? Admittedly, I am not a diamond aficionado, but some of these rings are so beautiful I would NEVER know the difference.

I wanted to take a poll to see how many would consider this, would do it (or have done it), or would not even hear of it.
(If you wish to remain anonymous, you do not have to post, please just select your choice from the poll).

Thanks for participating, I'm very interested to see where other people stand.

-PryncessChrysty

 

[Amberle3]

I've seen some very nice looking CZ, but I can always tell the difference between a CZ and a diamond.

I don't care about the size of the ring, I actually don't particularly like lots of diamonds on the wedding band itself, but the gems do have to be real. In any good jewelry I wear, the stones have to be real. No sense spending all that money to wear something fake. Especially for a wedding, I just wouldn't be able to get past having a fake gemstone for a real wedding. Yes, maybe I'm a gemstone snob.

 

[Snow_White]

I personally plan to keep my original diamond forever...for me, it's very sentimental. If I were to get CZ and then "trade up" in a few years, it would loses its sentimentality to me. I know some people who trade their stones in for new and bigger ones every few years, but for me, I'm sticking with the same one for my whole life. I hope that makes sense To me, it's more important to have a real, but small stone, than a big, but fake one.

 

[PryncessChrysty]

Thanks for the responses and I hope to see more.

I just want to clarify that I didn't mean by having a CZ that it has to be big or showy. Just that if you can't afford what you want, even if it's simple, would you consider a faux until you could afford the real?

 

[LUVTGR]

For me it's a sentimental thing. I got married w/ my grandmothers ring which is beautiful and high quality, but a bigger flashier stone than I would have picked for myself. The ring means the world to me and I would have had it even if it was a CZ. So I guess what I'm long windedly saying is once I got married w/ a ring I wouldn't be able to trade it in for something else b/c it would loose some of the specialness.

 

[PryncessChrysty]

Awwww...That's beautiful LUVTGR

 

[noodle7729]

When my DF and I were looking at rings we were seriously considering buying the setting that I wanted but putting CZ's in it for now. Then when we had the money we would simply swap out the stones for the real thing not changing the ring at all in any other way. I say that if you have your heart set on a certain ring and know that in the future you will have to money to change the stones go for it. More likely than not no one else will be able to tell the difference.

Jamie

 

[Fantasia Sam]

I deffo think that it's worth considering if it means having more for a wedding and money is a bit tight at the time.

I do know a couple of girlfriends who are on their 3rd set of engagement/wedding ring sets as when they first got engaged/wed money was tight etc etc. It's a personal choice but does detract from the sentimental value of the first ring you wore.

Also if yo already have a diamond engagment ring becareful that the CZ does not look out of place next to the diamonds.

 

[EvilinaDM101]

Okay here is my 2 cents! So I have big fingers and wanted atleast a .85 diamond (almost a carat) BUT for a good diamond it is a pretty penny. So to save we purchased a beautiful diamond setting and we were planning on having a CZ put in for the center stone when we were told these interesting points about CZ's and diamonds. 1. even if its a small diamond it's still an investment and can always be traded up. 2 to get a CZ put into a setting it's kinda pricy and the jewelers that we bought the setting from won't even think about putting a CZ in it. 3 there is no warrenty on a CZ unlike most diamonds. AND if you heat up a CZ it becomes fragile and easily breakable. 4 the only way you could tell the differance between a CZ and diamond is if you have this special machine. They have some GREAT looking CZ's. But they also come with the not so great price tag. SO we decided on a diamond. It seems that you may end up paying the price in the long run. BUT it's also whatever you feel comfortable with and what your pocket can handle.

 

[melmel]

I would deffinatly take the CZ. Only you and your hubby will know it's not real. I personally don't even see a reason to "upgrade" later. I'd just be happy with what I have. But it could just be that I'm not a jewlery kind of girl. Whatever makes you happy should be all that matters.

 

[grover]

I've never much thought about it, my set isn't pricey-but we don't tend to spend $$$ on things-I love my rings-first ones I saw--lucky for me I guess they were not out of our bugdet!
Well I suppose it depends somewhat on what your financial situation is...since I don't come from $$ or have much $$ then I could never consider a stone worth thousands-never-we would have to go into debt to pay for it-is that reasonable -no. We are paying for our wedding ourselves-many people do these days so that would be a factor I think, If you don't have to pay for a wedding you would most likely have several thousand $$ available to spend on jewlerry.
So I would have to say yes--if I found a CZ I LOVED then I would go for it--I mean reallly who would know--and would it be any less special--love is in the marriage-not in stone!
But that said if I could afford a big rock ya I would probably get it--but then mabey not-there are lots of things in life I want-lol!
Vanessa

 

[Rustyflwr3]

Have you ever heard of Moissanite? Here's a good website for it....

www.schubach.com

 

[PryncessChrysty]

Wow, it's gorgeous!! Looks like a diamond to me!! I really like the cushion cut, the band isn't my favorite, but I do love the cut!

Thank you for sharing that link!!

 

[Amberle3]

Originally posted by EvilinaDM101
the only way you could tell the differance between a CZ and diamond is if you have this special machine.

I have to disagree with this. I can always tell the difference between a CZ and a diamond, and haven't been wrong yet. Even with jewellers are sure I won't be able to tell the difference, I still can. The reflections (refractions?) from a CZ are located more toward the surface, on a diamond they're more from within the stone. It's a deeper sparkle.

 

[Snow_White]

Originally posted by Amberle3
I have to disagree with this. I can always tell the difference between a CZ and a diamond, and haven't been wrong yet. Even with jewellers are sure I won't be able to tell the difference, I still can. The reflections (refractions?) from a CZ are located more toward the surface, on a diamond they're more from within the stone. It's a deeper sparkle.

Also, CZ aren't as strong as diamonds. Just something to be aware of.

 

[ohanafamily]

Hi, I am a Graduate Gemologist and the only time I can't tell a CZ is if it is very dirty. I can spot Moissanite as well. (It is fairly new in the market and people don't generally look for it.) "Synthetic Moissanite" (yes, it is a synthetic stone, not a natural one) has a different look and color to it, but it can fool a lot of the diamond testers out there. Again, the diamond testers are used in a lot of retail locations especially when the staff is not as well trained as it could be.

Having sold lots of diamond engagement rings, I try to fit the purchase in the budget. There have been rare occasions when a customer has liked a band and could not afford a center diamond. We set a CZ in it. You just need to be aware that CZ's and Moissanite are a LOT more fragile than a diamond. Another thing you need to take into account is when you want to replace it with... a 2ct CZ to replace it with a diamond can run $15,000-$20,000, so it will be longer to get the real stone.

I have had a couple of different types of customers who have asked me for a CZ. The first is the type as I referenced above; She wants a better ring than they can afford, so she will settle for waiting.

The other type of customer is a man trying to... mislead a potential Girlfriend. I strongly discourage this type of person and will flatly REFUSE TO DO IT UNLESS SHE SIGNS OFF. I also engrave the ring that it has a CZ in it in all of the times we set them up...

Oh, I just remembered one other customer we made some CZ rings up for; we duplicated her engagement ring so they could take it with them on a cruise... they got the idea from a Love Boat episode, and yes, they threw them overboard at the end of the cruise...

Oh well, I would not consider it for myself, I have occasionally (very occasionally) suggested it for monetary reasons, but I am too much of a romantic, especially about the first diamond...

 

[Rustyflwr3]

hi,
Eventhough you say you could spot Moissanite and CZ, is it pretty easily spotted by an uneducated eye? All that information is very interesting.

 

[ohanafamily]

Well, I would say that a good many people cannot spot them. Once you know the difference most people can. Another thing, If you are making $20,000 a year and show up with a 2ct rock on your hand, there is a strong indication...

But in answer to your question most people can't spot the fakes, A lot just have never looked at the differences...

The durability of the simulants coupled with the perceived value is all part of the equation as well. If you are interested, go to WWW.GIA.edu and search on Moissanite. They can tell you how to tell the difference.

Good Luck on the Bling Bling...

 

[EvilinaDM101]

Rock on Ohanafam!! Great additional info!! These boards are the greatest!!

 

[ohanafamily]

Anything to help...