Description:
Zircons reputation has suffered of late due to the
introduction of a diamond simulant. So for the record,
zircon is NOT the same material as the artificial gem
material Cubic Zirconia (or CZ). However with that in
mind, zircon has been used as a diamond simulant both
for innocent and nefarious reasons. Zircon resembles
diamond in luster and fire and colorless zircons have
been mistaken for diamonds by experienced jewelers.
Zircon can make a very attractive and affordable gemstone.
It is found in browns and greens but can be heat treated
to beautiful blue and golden colors. Colorless material
is produced in this way as well. As a mineral specimen,
zircon is uncommon in most rock shops because attractive
specimens are rare. However, fine specimens of well
shaped zircons are available and are in demand. The
typical simple crystal of zircon is a tetragonal prism
terminated with four sided pyramids at each end. The
prism may be lacking and the crystal can look octahedral.
More complex crystals have faces of a less steeply inclined
prism that taper the terminations. Also a secondary
prism may truncate the primary prism by cutting off
its edges and producing an octagonal cross-section through
the crystal. There is even an eight sided pyramid (actually
a ditetragonal dipyramid) that may modify the four sided
pyramids. As you can see, zircon crystals can go from
a very simple crystal to a rather complexly faceted
form. |