The normal homeowner’s policy covers break ins and even thefts of articles away from your house. Everyone with jewelry should be aware that there are specific limits on what amount of coverage is available on jewelry overall and there are also limits on any one item. This is where you can see trouble. If you haven’t purchased what is called a jewelry floater that specifically schedules each item of jewelry with a stated value a jewelry theft can really hurt you.

You should have your jewelry appraised about every three years or so to determine how much coverage you need to purchase. These appraisals will be sent to the insurance company so if you have a theft, you will be fairly compensated for that item. It is also a good idea to have more expensive items kept in a bank safety deposit box for added protection.

The threat of theft is there whether you have real stones or lab created gems in the jewelry you wear. Lab created gems are becoming much more popular these days. Considering the high cost of living and their beauty, this makes perfect sense.

If you have purchased items with lab created gems like cubic zirconia you should have their prices and appraisals given to the insurance company as well. They may not have cost as much as jewelry with mined gems, but their beauty and sentimental value make them just as irreplaceable. An insurance company will still limit what you will receive for any type of jewelry unless you demonstrate its true value in a scheduled jewelry floater addition to your homeowners’ policy.

Loose cubic zirconia and lab created gems are created in the laboratory using two basic methods, either melt growth or solution growth. Melt growth is inexpensive but creates very low quality crystals. Melt growth is used to create the cheap synthetic gems used in class rings and discount store jewelry. Melt growth crystals lack fire and brilliance and have a “dead” look like a piece of colored glass.

Superior solution growth lab gems are more often created using the flux method, the method used to create the high quality cubic zirconia and lab gems sold online at www.Pehnec.com. Cubic zirconia, lab ruby, lab sapphire and synthetic alexandrite crystals are formed in supersaturated chemical baths. The flux method used to create the loose lab gems sold by PehnecGems produces the world’s highest quality cubic zirconia and lab gems. These manmade gems are virtually indistinguishable from Mother Nature’s own creations without the aid of a microscopic inspection and examination by a qualified expert.

In fact, high quality lab created gems like lab rubies and lab blue sapphires are created using the exact same chemical composition used by Mother Nature. PehnecGems lab rubies and lab sapphires are created in the lab from synthetic corundum, just as nature creates these gems from naturally occurring corundum. Superior production techniques allow these lab created gems to be cut and polished exactly like natural gems and diamonds.

Because of the name similarity, laymen sometimes confuse cubic zirconia with the naturally occurring mineral zircon. Although these crystals may both exhibit a diamond’s clear sparkle, the two couldn’t be more different chemically. Cubic zirconia is a zirconium dioxide while zircon is a zirconium silicate. It’s like the chemical difference between sodium chloride, common table salt, and sodium carbonate, washing soda used to launder clothes. The names may be similar, but you’d never sprinkle sodium carbonate on your morning eggs!

The same degree of difference is true of zircon and cubic zirconia. Zircon is Earth’s oldest naturally occurring mineral. Tiny 4.4 billion year old grains of zircon have been found in quartz conglomerates in Western Australia. (The Earth’s age is currently dated at 4.56 billion years.) Only very rarely does zircon produce a gem-size crystal and these quickly degrade due to the mineral’s natural radiation. More commonly, small grains of this accessory mineral, eroded from igneous and metamorphic rocks in the Earth’s crust, are plentifully found in beach sand.

Another synthetic diamond look alike is moissanite, a silicon carbide that just came on the jewelry market last year. Found in nature only as a trace mineral in meteorites from outer space and in kimberlites, igneous rock formations that also produce diamonds, synthetic moissanite can now be lab grown to jewelry quality carat-size crystals.

Cubic zirconia, moissanite and natural diamonds are nearly identical to each other in appearance and physical properties. Cubic zirconia differs from diamonds in that cz has a higher specific gravity (it weighs nearly twice as much as a diamond) and lacks a diamond’s ability to conduct heat. Moissanite is slightly harder than cz and has a specific gravity slightly lower than a diamond’s. It can conduct heat but, unlike diamonds, also conducts electricity. Despite their differences, cubic zirconia has proved to be a more flexible gem substitute than moissanite because colored cz can be created in any color and cut into any shape, unlike its kissing cousin.

Without a universal rating system, wholesale buyers found it difficult to judge value and price when comparing competing cz wholesale offers. Without a standardized rating system, there was also no guarantee that cubic zirconia or cz gems purchased from different suppliers would exhibit the same properties, potentially impacting the quality of the end product. As one of the nation’s major wholesale dealers in loose cubic zirconia and loose lab created gems since 1961, PehnecGems recognized the difficulties that lack of an industry rating system posed for both wholesale buyers and sellers.

In an effort to differentiate between and standardize its own cz product offerings, PehnecGems developed the following rating system:

• A – Good quality cubic zirconia preferred by artists and crafters for its beauty at an extremely affordable price. Price makes A-rated cz a cost-effective choice for volume-produced art, crafts, clothing and accessories.
• AAA – Better quality cz with more facets and polish than A-rated stones but fewer facets and less polish than AAAAA-rated cz gems.
• AAAAA - Superior quality cubic zirconia with the most facets and highest polish. Virtually indistinguishable from the highest quality diamonds, AAAAA cz are prized by jewelers and jewelry buyers looking for stunning, high quality, yet affordable jewelry.

The wholesale market responded so positively to PehnecGem’s cz rating system that it has been adopted by many other wholesalers and now provides a reliable guide to wholesale cubic zirconia and cz gem buyers. 

For dependable quality you can trust in wholesale loose cubic zirconia and lab created gems, visit the PehnecGems website at www.pehnec.com. PehnecGems guarantees your complete satisfaction and offers a 100% guarantee on all products.

In nature, the crystal structure of the gem and the conditions under which it developed determine the ultimate shape into which it will be cut. Gem cutters choose shapes and cutting styles to maximize the weight and number of saleable gems they can cut from an individual raw stone. Their job is complicated by the presence of undesirable flaws and variations in color that occur naturally during the formation of natural gemstones. Raw gemstones must be carefully cut to maximize the number of finished gems having superior color and minimal flaws. One of the real advantages of lab created gems and cubic zirconia is the ability to consistently and inexpensively create perfectly cut lab gems of any shape with superior color and flawless clarity for the jewelry and arts trades.

Natural and lab created gems are cut to enhance their natural beauty. Gem cutters first cut flat, symmetrical, geometric planes, called facets, into the stone. Once polished, these facets catch and reflect light from different angles, emphasizing color and creating sparkle and brilliance. The faceting of a natural or lab gem is a precise science. Gems of different chemical compositions bend light rays differently as light passes through the mineral. Gem cutters use this refractive index as a guide during faceting to achieve different finished shapes while maintaining maximum brilliance and color in the finished gem.

Gem cutting styles are either faceted or unfaceted. Most natural gems that sparkle and their lab created gem counterparts are faceted. Unfaceted stones are most often cut into smooth, dome-shaped cabochons. Many semi-precious natural stones like turquoise that lack a sparkling crystal structure are most often cut into cabochons for jewelry use.

Next time: Different faceted cuts

Viable cubic zirconia was created in the lab in 1930. Interestingly, in 1937 naturally occurring microscopic grains of cz were discovered in metamict zircon by German mineralogists M.V. Stackelberg and K. Chudoba who believed cz to be a product of the metamictization process. Metamictization is the naturally occurring destruction of a mineral’s crystal structure through internal bombardment by radioactive impurities.

Cubic zirconia was first produced for economic use in lasers and other technical optical applications. Because of its extremely high melting point, production was problematic until the perfection of the cold crucible technique by Soviet scientists in the 1970s. Commercial production of cz took off in 1976 and improvements have continued. Loose cubic zirconia are now available in a wide variety of quality and colors from cz wholesalers.

Besides its affordable price, key features that distinguish cubic zirconia from diamonds include:

• CZ is 1.6 times denser and therefore heavier than diamond with a higher specific gravity, 5.6 to 6.0.
• Harder than most natural gems and nearly as hard as diamond’s 10, cz registers 8 on the Mohs scale.
• With a refractive index of 2.17, cz is nearly as refractive as diamond which has an index of 2.42.
• Both cz and diamond exhibit subadamantine luster.
• CZ has an exceptionally high dispersion, 0.060, compared to diamond at 0.044, producing greater prismatic fire.
• Completely colorless AAAAA cubic zirconia, comparable to a perfect D on the diamond color grading scale, can be created in the lab whereas most diamonds contain yellow or brown flaws.

Weight and the fact that cubic zirconia is a thermal insulator while diamond is a thermal conductor are the two easiest ways to distinguish cz from diamonds. On looks alone, the two appear identical.

To learn more about subjects like loose cubic zirconia please visit the web site at: http://www.pehnec.com/