White Sapphire vs Diamond

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.

There are several clear colorless gems that resemble a diamond, 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), Sapphire  a bit more refined in brilliance, and Zircon with its durability.

Comparing diamonds, sapphires and zircon