Moissanite. :)
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Asha's are CZ's, right? Any CZ I ever had didn't keep it's clarity over time. Maybe the Asha's have solved that problem?
I have CZ's (not Asha brand), Moissanite and diamonds and the Moissanite have the most fire. My dia tennis bracelet has full cut round, VS1, near colorless - lots of sparkle. But the Moissanite is amazingly brilliant. I started buying Moissanites to use for travel so I could leave the diamonds at home. Yesterday I was in the jewelry store getting a repair done and was wearing a 3 stone Moissanite pendant. The jewelers were complimenting me on my 'diamond' pendant and how fantastic the quality was.
The only way I can tell a Moissanite from a high quality diamond is in natural light - cloudy day with no sun - the color has an odd tint. In bright sunshine they sparkle with every color of the rainbow.
I have CZ's (not Asha brand), Moissanite and diamonds and the Moissanite have the most fire. My dia tennis bracelet has full cut round, VS1, near colorless - lots of sparkle. But the Moissanite is amazingly brilliant. I started buying Moissanites to use for travel so I could leave the diamonds at home. Yesterday I was in the jewelry store getting a repair done and was wearing a 3 stone Moissanite pendant. The jewelers were complimenting me on my 'diamond' pendant and how fantastic the quality was.
The only way I can tell a Moissanite from a high quality diamond is in natural light - cloudy day with no sun - the color has an odd tint. In bright sunshine they sparkle with every color of the rainbow.
I believe Ashas are a brand of CZs. .. apparently very good quality (?). Very interesting post on the moissanite. . .I can't wait to try it - I think I'll try earring studs as my first purchase
This thread has got me thinking of Moissanite as well. I am not normally into simulants, but Moissanite is technically a gemstone on its own. Also, the size of studs I want are out of my budget if I go for genuine diamonds.
They been on both Oprah and the Tyra show, which I never saw, but I'd like a pair of studs like these. I have two pairs of diamond earrings, neither of them studs, but both very nice. The size of studs I'd like would be more than a really great vacation, so I'll probably never get the real thing.
This would be a nice alternative.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6dtcLJx42k&feature=related
This would be a nice alternative.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6dtcLJx42k&feature=related
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I am big fan of Moissanite. If you pick the right stone like I did, you can't go wrong. I bought a Moissanite ring about 5 years ago and it still has the brilliance and sparkle. It does however have a halo of real diamonds around the center stone. I wore it the other day to a wedding and the ladies kept complimenting me on my ring and kept saying how brilliant she was and gorgeous it is. I never said anything to anyone that it was not a diamond 
I am very fascinated by moissanite. I found 1 carat studs online for $260. Not bad! If they sparkle as much and can pass off convincingly as a diamond as everyone claims, I would think it's a good investment. And if/when I lose an earring, I won't feel as bad than if I lost a diamond stud!
Do any of you ladies know a good place to buy settings reasonably? Pendant, ring, or earring settings in 10k or 14k gold. There are some beautiful shapes and colors in the WinkCZ's, but I don't want to put a fortune into a setting when the stones aren't super expensive. I'd just like to have a fun set of earrings or a cute ring.
I wouldn't hesitate one bit to purchase moissanite earring studs. I know of someone who has a moissanite ring because she is totally against all diamonds in fear that they may be blood diamonds.....especially the larger stones. That ring is truly gorgeous and no one needs to know if it is real or not. I know that it isn't but my first question to her wouldn't exactly be "Is it real"??????
to www.carat.cc, beautiful pieces at really affordable price. It looks good too. You can always upgrade when you can afford diamonds later on.
Re: all the discussion about moissanite... allow me to jump in if I may, since the boyfriend and I have been e-ring shopping and I've been obsessively researching everything, I have learned a LOT over the past few weeks! 
Older moissanites did have a tint to them - but newer moissanites have much less of a tint, and now there is something called Amora (previously called Mira) which is made by re-cutting the moissanite in a way that gets rid of all the tint - and it may be coated in something too, that part I'm not sure of, but anyway, it is supposed to be absolutely BEAUTIFUL. It's what I've chosen for my e-ring, actually I haven't seen it in person yet, but there are lots of comparison shots on the message boards at betterthandiamond.com
(Quick background info: BTD is the company that buys the moissanite [there is only one company allowed to "grow" moissanite currently, C&C] and then re-cuts them into their patented Amoras. There is about a 20-30% loss rate in the re-cutting process though, plus the labor, so that's why they cost more than regular moissanite.)
I may sound like I'm sponsored by moissanite, but I assure you I am not, I just am pumped about having this as an alternative to diamonds! (I want a MEGA sparkly, colorless stone, but I don't want to support blood diamonds, child labor, OR the DeBeers marketing machine....)
Oh, and for anyone who's curious, I ended up going with an Amora (a treated moissanite) over an Asha because moissanites are far more durable. An Asha is a diamond-coated CZ, but they still have the same issue that CZ has, which is that it's porous, meaning it absorbs oils from our skin, lotions, etc (which is why the ladies above me said their CZs looked cloudy) Asha is supposed to help with this, but from my understanding the problem still isn't solved 100%. This may not be a problem if all you want is studs or something, but since I'm sentimental and wanted to be able to hand down my e-ring someday, I went with an Amora.
I can't recommend the message board at betterthandiamonds.com enough - fabulous resource, and the ladies are enthusiastic about helping potential moissy fans
Check out the settings at moissaniteco.com and ashadiamonds.com (both are owned by the same people). You can select a setting from moissaniteco.com and have it set with an Amora, which is what I'm doing, since they are an authorized re-seller of Amoras.
Oh, and one final option - a colored gem! Someone else recommended this, and I definitely looked into this a lot. Colored gem are VERY inexpensive if you buy them loose and pre-cut, and then you can have them set separately. Look at photos of gems and check out all the different colors - there is WAY more out there than just sapphire, etc. I actually ordered 4 different gems, all different colors, and of good sizes, and I think the most I paid was $66. (If you're curious, I got a yellow labradorite, which was a beautiful soft yellow; 2 different cuts of kunzite [a cushion cut and a round cut], which is a very sparkly pale pink; and a big round morganite, which is a very pale peachy-pink). One of the kunzite was only $35 and the other was only $25 I think, and most gem sites for hobbyists (i.e., rock collectors) have a generous return policy, so a lot of ladies will order the gem to make sure they like it before they send it off to their jeweler to have it set, and if they don't like it they just send it back to the original gem site. Other beautiful gems worth checking out: prasiolite, aka green amethyst (very pale green) and andasite, which comes in a beautiful teal I had never seen before.
Wow, this turned into a novel... sorry, I just wanted to share all the different options that I've learned about in the past few weeks, since before I started my research I thought my only options were a diamond or a classic (boring, to me) gemstone like a ruby or a blue sapphire or something.
I hope this helps someone else!
Older moissanites did have a tint to them - but newer moissanites have much less of a tint, and now there is something called Amora (previously called Mira) which is made by re-cutting the moissanite in a way that gets rid of all the tint - and it may be coated in something too, that part I'm not sure of, but anyway, it is supposed to be absolutely BEAUTIFUL. It's what I've chosen for my e-ring, actually
I haven't seen it in person yet, but there are lots of comparison shots on the message boards at betterthandiamond.com (Quick background info: BTD is the company that buys the moissanite [there is only one company allowed to "grow" moissanite currently, C&C] and then re-cuts them into their patented Amoras. There is about a 20-30% loss rate in the re-cutting process though, plus the labor, so that's why they cost more than regular moissanite.)
I may sound like I'm sponsored by moissanite, but I assure you I am not, I just am pumped about having this as an alternative to diamonds! (I want a MEGA sparkly, colorless stone, but I don't want to support blood diamonds, child labor, OR the DeBeers marketing machine....)
Oh, and for anyone who's curious, I ended up going with an Amora (a treated moissanite) over an Asha because moissanites are far more durable. An Asha is a diamond-coated CZ, but they still have the same issue that CZ has, which is that it's porous, meaning it absorbs oils from our skin, lotions, etc (which is why the ladies above me said their CZs looked cloudy) Asha is supposed to help with this, but from my understanding the problem still isn't solved 100%. This may not be a problem if all you want is studs or something, but since I'm sentimental and wanted to be able to hand down my e-ring someday, I went with an Amora.
I can't recommend the message board at betterthandiamonds.com enough - fabulous resource, and the ladies are enthusiastic about helping potential moissy fans
Check out the settings at moissaniteco.com and ashadiamonds.com (both are owned by the same people). You can select a setting from moissaniteco.com and have it set with an Amora, which is what I'm doing, since they are an authorized re-seller of Amoras.
Oh, and one final option - a colored gem! Someone else recommended this, and I definitely looked into this a lot. Colored gem are VERY inexpensive if you buy them loose and pre-cut, and then you can have them set separately. Look at photos of gems and check out all the different colors - there is WAY more out there than just sapphire, etc. I actually ordered 4 different gems, all different colors, and of good sizes, and I think the most I paid was $66. (If you're curious, I got a yellow labradorite, which was a beautiful soft yellow; 2 different cuts of kunzite [a cushion cut and a round cut], which is a very sparkly pale pink; and a big round morganite, which is a very pale peachy-pink). One of the kunzite was only $35 and the other was only $25 I think, and most gem sites for hobbyists (i.e., rock collectors) have a generous return policy, so a lot of ladies will order the gem to make sure they like it before they send it off to their jeweler to have it set, and if they don't like it they just send it back to the original gem site. Other beautiful gems worth checking out: prasiolite, aka green amethyst (very pale green) and andasite, which comes in a beautiful teal I had never seen before.
Wow, this turned into a novel... sorry, I just wanted to share all the different options that I've learned about in the past few weeks, since before I started my research I thought my only options were a diamond or a classic (boring, to me) gemstone like a ruby or a blue sapphire or something.
I hope this helps someone else!
My e-ring is an asha and its been great for the year ive had it buy I recently put a big chip/scratch in it. Im also tired of cleaning it every day 
so I just ordered a moissy ) cant wait to get it im very curious! I havent seen one.. oh and i've had caratcc* and it was soo fake looking, so disappointing-waist of money!
so I just ordered a moissy ) cant wait to get it im very curious! I havent seen one.. oh and i've had caratcc* and it was soo fake looking, so disappointing-waist of money!