Occasionally, the mines produce Zircons in colors that are naturally beautiful and don’t require heating. These gems are relatively rare but still command only a small premium over their heated counterparts, which provides for exceptional value to the knowledgeable gem buyer.
We have Natural, unheated Zircons in several colors – Pink, Peach, Champagne, Orange, Red, Mocha, etc (see product labelling on each gem).
Natural Zircons are not to be confused with Cubic Zirconia (CZ) which is a man-made substance.
The name ‘Zircon’ derives from the Persian word ‘zargun’ meaning golden hued. Zircons (and possibly other gems) in the pinkish-purplish-reddish color range were historically referred to as “Hyacinth” or “Jacinth”.
Zircons have extremely high dispersion of 0.038, which is the optical property that splits light into its component colors. That explains all those flashes of color when we look at these beautiful gems.
Their refractive index (RI) is also very high ranging from 1.81 to 1.98 and they are durable with a hardness of 7-7.5 for ‘high’ zircons.
Natural Zircons are still available at a fraction of the price of most other gemstones, making them the last undervalued gem!
Zircon is December’s birthstone, providing a lot of color choice for December birthdays!
We have many more colors, shapes and sizes available in Natural, unheated Zircons – please contact us if you don’t find what you are looking for in our online inventory.