Cubic Zirconia also known as CZ, is a man made synthetic stone . It can be made in a variety of colours to imitate gems or crystals. It is normally made colorless to imitate diamonds.
CZ was created in the 70’s as an inexpensive substitution for diamonds. They are made from Zirconium Dioxide and on a Mohs Scale* CZ is rated 8.5 compared to Diamonds which is rated as 10.
*What is the Mohs Scale?
Mohs Scale measures a minerals durability and hardness through a qualitative grading system, from 1 to 10, that determines the scratch -resistance of the mineral(s).
The scale compares the minerals to be scratched by ten reference minerals (see table below) to determine their durability.