So after Ordinary Thing’s latest video, I was reminded again how much I don’t care about diamonds, and actually the whole ‘present a ring and blah blah’ thing really doesn’t sit well with me.
I get that if I were to be in love enough to want to commit the rest of my life, I would want to demonstrate that effectively, but crystals stuck to a metal ring just doesn’t do it for me.
Like, maybe ‘here’s a life changing trip for just the two of us around south east asia’ or ‘come live in Latin America with me for 2 months’ or something that feels significant… Diamonds just aren’t it. Symbolic yes, I get it.
Am I alone feeling this way?
As someone who works in jewelry design, moissanite is far superior to diamond anyway.
- Very similar hardness (9.25+ vs 10), but lower value makes moissanite a bit less brittle, less prone to chipping and more durable overall
- Higher refractive index (2.65–2.69 vs 2.42), which gives moissanite more brilliance and sparkle compared to diamonds
- Lower Abbe number. It means that moissanite tends to disperse light into colors more than diamond, giving moissanite more fiery or rainbow colors
- Usually lab-produced, so much more ethical in general, and much higher clarity on average
- It’s waaay cheaper
So for anyone going for a diamond ring, I suggest trying moissanite instead. The only thing that diamond has going for it in this comparison is just decades-long PR. It’s not even a fun gem chemistry-wise, it’s just carbon. Moissanite, on the other hand, is SiC :)
Here, I assembled a comparison image. They’re pretty similar in normal light, but moissanite shines like a motherfucker :)
