White Sapphire  Versus Diamond



By Simply Sapphires

White or "Colorless" Sapphires have a great deal of brilliance, are an attractive alternative to diamond. Colorless Sapphires are not common as many you will see  have a small under color of blue or yellow with the Ceylon material, or gray or green with the African material.
White
sapphire has been used as a diamond alternative for years.  We often suggest to our clients white sapphire for use as accent stones in jewelry designs, and the larger gems make fine show piece stones in jewelry.

White sapphire are beautiful stones, but  it's not a diamond and will never have the brilliance of one. It's like comparing apples to oranges. Thats why we generally discourage mixing diamond/sapphire in the same setting.

There are several clear colorless gems that many use as a diamond substitute, but each including a diamond has its own merits and drawbacks.Colorless (white) Sapphire is a natural brilliant gemstone, but  does not have the same fire as a Diamond, due to its optical properties (dispersion and refractive index), being lower.

When you view a Diamond, you see the colors of the rainbow in the faceting in daylight, but with the White Sapphire, you see white light reflected in the faceting. A colorless zircon more closely matches a diamonds brilliance and fire but it's a softer stone (7 on the Moh's scale, sapphire being a 9, diamond being a 10). so it will scratch easier than a sapphire or diamond.

As I mentioned, they all have their pluses an minuses, diamonds' obvious drawback is its high price (all those diamond advertising campaigns trying to convince you how much you need one don't come cheap). Rather ironic, diamonds are such an abundant stone on the planet, sapphires are a much rarer one.  Sapphire  a bit more refined in brilliance, and Zircon with its durability.


Comparing diamonds, sapphires and zircon

Variety Refractive Index Dispersion Specific Gravity Hardness
Diamond 2.417 0.044 3.52 10
YAG 1.835 0.028 4.55-4.65
Zirconia 2.18 0.06 6
Zircon 1.92-1.98 0.038 4.7
Sapphire 1.76-1.77 0.018 4 9
Spinel 1.73 0.02 3.65 8


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