What is CZ (Cubic Zirconia)
CZ is a diamond simulant. This means it is lab grown and it was meant to be a cheap alternative to diamonds. It is crystalline silicon carbide and even though it has been repored from several meteorites as tiny grains, it is now mass produced in labs. It is hard, optically flawless and colorless (unless pigment is added). It is not the mineral zircon and shouldn’t be confused with it even though it is often called “cubic zirconium” erroneously.
It was commercially produced starting in 1976 and has been the main competitor to diamonds up till synthetic moissanite came onto the market.
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