Imperial Zircons have colors that are reminiscent of Imperial Topaz or fine Malaya Garnet. Colors range from peach to peach orange with a hint of pink.

These gems are not to be confused with Cubic Zirconia (CZ) which is a man-made substance.

Imperial Zircons are mined in East Africa. They are routinely heated to achieve their final colors but we do sometimes get Natural, unheated gems too (see product labelling for each gem).

The name ‘Zircon’ derives from the Persian word ‘zargun’ meaning golden hued. Zircons (and possibly other gems) in the pinkish-purplish-reddish color range were historically referred to as “Hyacinth” or “Jacinth”.

Zircons have extremely high dispersion of 0.038, which is the optical property that splits light into its component colors. That explains all those flashes of color when we look at these beautiful gems.

Their refractive index (RI) is also very high ranging from 1.81 to 1.98 and they are durable with a hardness of 7-7.5 for ‘high’ zircons.

Natural Zircons are still available at a fraction of the price of most other gemstones, making them the last undervalued gem!

Zircon is December’s birthstone, providing a lot of color choice for December birthdays!

We have many more colors, shapes and sizes available in Imperial Zircon – please contact us if you don’t find what you are looking for in our online inventory.