Yellow Zircons are bright gems with a range of colors from light yellow to medium and strong yellows.

These gems 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”.

Occasionally, Yellow Zircons will have tenebrescence. This is a rare property that only some zircons have. Gems stored in a dark area (e.g. safe) will have a brownish-yellow or orangey-yellow color when they are first taken out. Once they are exposed to light they slowly turn into their ‘normal’ yellow color (usually within a few minutes). This is a fascinating phenomenon that can be repeated over and over again!

Tenebrescence is also known as reversible photochromism. This property is used in synthetic materials to manufacture photochromic or ‘transition’ sunglasses, which darken on exposure to sunlight.

Significant sources of Yellow Zircon include East Africa, Sri Lanka and Cambodia. They are routinely heated to achieve their color. Occasionally we get Natural, unheated gems too (see product labelling for each gem).

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 Yellow Zircon – please contact us if you don’t find what you are looking for in our online inventory.