Cubic Zirconia Charms

Around Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and even Mother’s Day one is bombarded with commercials for diamond jewelry such as rings, necklaces, and earrings.  This should not be a surprise when diamonds are associated with love and given as tokens of love for others.  However, diamonds are an expensive jewel and not all can afford a high quality diamond.  However, one may be surprised at how affordable cubic zirconia jewels, such as a cubic zirconia earring set, can be. If one is in the market for a pair of diamond earrings but it is not in the budget, consider the purchase of a cubic zirconia earring set.They say that diamonds are a girl’s best friend.  What girl wouldn’t want to receive a diamond from that special someone in her life?  Unfortunately, the reality is that diamonds are expensive.  Although it should be the thought that counts, size does matter.  In a society that is driven by material wealth, bigger is better.  So, what does one do when they want to give a diamond to that someone special but can not afford a diamond big enough to do please the wearer?  Why not consider cubic zirconia?

 Cubic zirconia is a mineral that is extremely rare in nature but is widely synthesized for use as a diamond substitute.  The synthesized material that a cubic zirconia is made of is hard, optically flawless, and usually colorless.  The color and clarity of a diamond drives the cost of the diamond.  With a cubic zirconia, you have the flawless clarity and the colorlessness without the high cost.  Due to the low cost, durability, and close visual likeness to diamonds, the cubic zirconia has been the most economically important diamond substitute on the market since 1976.

Cubic zirconia can be set into any type of jewelry a diamond could be.  For example, if one is in the market for a pair of diamond earrings, one could consider a cubic zirconia earring set.  The cubic zirconia earring set could have the same shape as a diamond earring set.  The choices for shapes include round, princess, emerald, pear, radiant, asscher, and trillion.  The settings for a cubic zirconia earring set are the same as a diamond set as well.  The stones can be set in fourteen karat or eighteen karat white or yellow gold, along with the option of a platinum setting.  The settings can have three prongs or six prongs.  One also needs to determine if she would like a screw back or a plain post.  Once a shape and setting are determined, the karat weight of the stone needs to be decided.  Similar to diamond earrings, the karat weight of a cubic zirconia earring set includes the weight of both earrings.  For example, if each earring is a quarter of a karat, the total karat weight of the earring set is a half karat.  The beauty of a cubic zirconia earring set is that one can have a high total karat weight without paying thousands of dollars. 

Cubic zirconia can also be used for rings.  When building one’s own ring, one again needs to determine the shape of the stone.  Choices are similar to earrings; princess, pear, oval, marquise, heart, emerald, round, and radiant.  After one chooses the shape they need to choose the setting.  Rings can be set in fourteen karat or eighteen karat white or yellow gold or platinum.  A sterling silver cubic zirconia ring setting could also be chosen.  Finally, a karat weight needs to be determined.  Again, one can purchase a much larger stone in the cubic zirconia than in a diamond for a fraction of the cost.

If one is in the market for diamonds but can’t afford the cost associated with diamonds consider a diamond substitute, consider cubic zirconia.