Swarovski® Gems™

What is Zirconia?
Zirconia is a high quality, durable, hard, and optically clear synthetic crystalline substance. It is a man-made material and usually colorless, but can be produced in a variety of different colors. Because of its great similarities to diamonds, zirconia is often used as an affordable diamond substitute. The created stone was first produced in a laboratory in the 1970s, initially to be used in laser technology. After it turned out to be useless for this purpose scientists discovered its great potential for the jewelry industry.

What is Swarovski Zirconia?
Although Swarovski is renowned for precision-cut crystal, the company has been cutting genuine gemstones and created stones for many decades. In 1976, Swarovski started to cut zirconia, being the first company on the market to offer a machine-cut exponent of this synthetic stone. Ever since, Swarovski Zirconia has been known as the most precisely cut zirconia on the market, available in a wide variety of exquisite shapes, sizes, and colors.

What makes Swarovski Zirconia so special?
Across the globe, the name Swarovski is synonymous with the art of precision cutting. All stones from Swarovski are masterfully crafted to reveal their true inner brilliance. The company is also famous for constant innovation and these two principles come together in its revolutionary cut for zirconia: the Pure Brilliance cut. For the first time in history, Swarovski managed to cut a zirconia that was as brilliant as a diamond. By strictly adhering to the exacting standards for grading diamond cut quality from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the world’s foremost authority on diamonds, the company was able to develop a cut that equals the Tolkowsky diamond – the most brilliant diamond cut in the world. This makes the Pure Brilliance Swarovski Zirconia the most diamond-like Zirconia that is available on the market today. It is exclusively cut by Swarovski in Austria, complying with the country’s high social and environmental manufacturing standards.

How does Swarovski Zirconia compare to diamonds?
Pure Brilliance Swarovski Zirconia is the most diamond like Zirconia on the market – an excellent diamond imitation for use in jewelry. The two materials share a great number of similarities and are very difficult to distinguish from one another. The very high refractive index and perfect cut of Swarovski Zirconia imitate the brilliance and fire of the purest diamonds. However, diamonds are naturally occurring gemstones, whereas Swarovski Zirconia is a laboratory-created material. Diamonds are the hardest minerals that exist with a hardness of 10 on the Mohs scale. Swarovski Zirconia is still very hard, reaching a rating of 8.5. In jewelry, Swarovski Zirconia is used in rings, necklaces, pendants, earrings, and bracelets and is often set in precious metals, just like natural diamonds. Swarovski Zirconia is also used in other industries, including eyewear, consumer electronics and writing instruments.

Doesn’t Swarovski only cut crystals?
The Swarovski brand stands for more than crystals. The Swarovski brand stands for the mastery of light and cut, for creative innovation and above all for tradition. All of these values 100 percent also apply to the Swarovski Gemstones Business, Swarovski's unit for genuine gemstones and created stones.

How does Swarovski Zirconia compare to Swarovski Crystal?
Swarovski Zirconia and Swarovski Crystal are both beautiful materials that keep inspiring jewelry makers to create amazing designs. However, as there are various differences between the two, they are used for different purposes and cater to different needs of the design industries. On the one hand, Swarovski Zirconia is very hard, heat resistant, and refracts light just like a diamond. These characteristics make it the most popular diamond imitation. It is almost always set in gold or silver and mostly used for bridge jewelry, watches, eyewear, and lifestyle electronics. Swarovski Crystal, on the other hand, is softer and less refractive and therefore different application techniques are used. It is a very popular material for costume jewelry and fashion, adding a glamorous sparkle to any design.

Is Swarovski Zirconia a synthetic diamond?
Swarovski Zirconia is not a synthetic diamond, but it is commonly known as a diamond imitation. The difference between the two lies in their chemical properties. Synthetic diamonds are an exact replication of natural diamonds, except that they are created in a laboratory instead of being mined. Diamond imitations, on the other hand, are materials that visually resemble natural diamonds but do not necessarily share the same chemical characteristics, such as genuine gemstones like topaz or rock crystal, or created stones like Swarovski Zirconia or Swarovski Crystal.

Where to buy Swarovski Zirconia?
Swarovski Gems can be purchased at AlliumBlue.com for professionals.