Try to scratch it.

Steel slides off.

Knives, files and saw blades are steel, about 5.5 to 7 on the Mohs scale. Moissanite is 9.25, so steel just slides off. Window glass, at 5.5, would keep every scratch.

Heat? Bring it.

Moissanite is stable to about 1,700°C (3,100°F) in air. A diamond starts to burn near 850°C (1,560°F). Under a torch moissanite can turn slightly yellow for a moment, then it clears again as it cools.

Silver melts at 962°C (1,764°F), so for the flame test the stone comes out of the ring.

Hard is not unbreakable.

A hard knock can chip any gemstone, diamonds included. That is why the hammer and the chainsaw only get your screen. Take your ring off before you swing a real hammer.

More fire than a diamond.

Moissanite splits light into more color. The rainbow flashes in the stone above are calculated from these numbers, not painted on.

Moissanite 101.

Moissanite is silicon carbide, a gem first found in a meteorite crater in 1893 and made in a lab today. It is not a diamond, and we always call it moissanite. Straight answers to the questions people ask most: