Understanding Gemstones & Plating in your Jewelry

What is Rhodium Plating?

Rhodium is a precious metal that is in the family of platinum. For rhodium plated jewelry, it involves plating the jewelry with a surface that guards against scratches that also gives a reflective white appearance. Rhodium is nearly as valuable as platinum. Like platinum, it is durable and tarnish-resistant.

 

What is Moissanite?

Known for its similarity to diamonds, Moissanite is one of the rarest minerals occurring in nature, as it is composed of silicon carbide. Due to rarely finding silicon carbide in nature, most of the Moissanite available today is laboratory-created.

 

What you need to know about Moissanite?

Moissanite is nearly as hard as diamond, a 9.25 on the Mohs scale, which means a Moissanite ring is incredibly durable and perfect for daily wear. It's also way more affordable than diamonds of comparable shapes and sizes.
Can I pass off my moissanite as a diamond?
Unlike faux diamonds and other gemstones, Moissanite is also an effective conductor of heat. For this reason, when using a diamond tester that detects thermal conductivity, moissanite will pass as a diamond.

 

What is Amethyst?

Amethyst Description
Amethyst is the purple variety of the quartz mineral species. It’s the gem that’s most commonly associated with the color purple, even though there are other purple gems such as sapphire and tanzanite. Its purple color can be cool and bluish, or a reddish purple that’s sometimes referred to as “raspberry.”

Amethyst’s purple color can range from a light lilac to a deep, intense royal purple, and from brownish to vivid. Amethyst also commonly shows what is called color zoning, which in the case of amethyst usually consists of angular zones of darker to lighter color.

 

What is Moonstone?

Moonstone is made of two minerals---orthoclase and albite---which form in stacked layers within the stone. When light enters between these thin layers it produces the familiar phenomenon observed in moonstone called adularescence. This unique "shine" reminded the ancients of the shimmer of the moon and is the origin of the name. Moonstone jewelry has become popular in more recent times as wearers learn more about the stone and seek to take advantage of the purported benefits of this unique "moon gem."