What is the difference between zircon and zirconium oxide?

Zircon, zirconium oxide, zirconium, zirconia... They are often confused because of their very similar names or because of their very similar appearance. For a novice, it is sometimes difficult to tell the difference between zircon and zirconium oxide (to which we can add crystal and rhinestone).
To better understand the difference between these names, we have developed this technical sheet.

1. Zircon

Zircon is a natural mineral that belongs to the fine stones. Known since antiquity, its name comes from the Arabic"zarqun" which means red-orange.
This gemstone is particularly hard with a hardness of 7.5 on the Mohs scale.

Zircon is a fairly rare stone. In nature, it is mostly brown in color. But it is also found in a large number of colors such as blue, green, red or yellow.
When it is heated at high temperature, it changes color.

In common parlance, it is sometimes called "false synthetic diamond". This is wrong, because they are two different materials.

2. Zirconium

Zirconium is not a natural gemstone or a synthetic gemstone, as most people think. It is a silvery, satiny hard metal.

3. Zirconium oxide

This is the one that is most confused with zircon... But zirconium oxide is not a gemstone. It is a synthetic material made by man since the 1970s. It is also called zirconia, zirconium dioxide or zirconia. It is sometimes referred to as zirconium, but as we have seen above, these are two different materials.
Even harder than zircon but less than diamond, this synthetic stone has a hardness of 8.5. Its refractive index is high. It can be white or of various colors ranging from blue to pink, through green, yellow, red ...

Very popular in costume jewelry, this synthetic gemstone can be produced on a large scale, so it is less expensive than zircon.
Imagine many DIY creations with our zirconium oxide jewelry components.

4. Cubic zirconia

Also called Cubic zirconia, cubic zirconia is made from zirconium oxide. It was specifically created to imitate diamonds. But, beware, it is not a synthetic diamond, which is made from pure carbon.
Cubic zirconia is a synthetic stone that has a wide variety of shapes and colors, with a very high light dispersion. It is considered a high quality, durable and scratch resistant material. Due to its hardness, it is a less expensive alternative to diamond.

5. Crystal

This is not a form of crystal like quartz in gemology. It is actually a kind ofglass with a special structure. It is not found in its natural state. It is manufactured in an artisanal or industrial way from the fusion of silica (like ordinary glass), potash and a certain percentage of lead oxide (11, 24 or 32%, all depending on the purity of the crystal).
Its range of colors is very wide. The presence of lead increases transparency, density andbrilliance(rainbow effect).

Find all our PureCrystal and Preciosa crystal components to create beautiful DIY jewelry.

6. Rhinestones

This is a fairly shiny lead-rich glass made to imitate a gemstone or fine stone.

Rhinestones can be made in a wide variety of colors, transparent or opaque, with iridescent, metallic, glitter or hologram effects. Metallic oxides are added to color the rhinestone to make it look like an emerald, ruby or sapphire.
It looks like a bezel cut crystal, but it is much cheaper.

Discover our rhinestones to stick to customize your costume jewelry, your clothes and your accessories.