Blue Zircon Gemstone Views
Transparent zircon can be found in shades of brilliant green, brownish-green and yellow-green. These stones typically have unique inclusions known as spangles, as well as streaks and/or angular color zoning. Yellow zircon can be mistaken for yellow sapphire, and can be found in the canary yellow, greenish yellow, and golden-yellow. Perhaps the most popular gemstone color for zircon is blue.
Zircon can be heat treated to alter its color, and varying temperatures can produce colorless, blue, or yellow gems from less desirable specimens. Heat treatment of reddish-brown stones found in Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam produce most of the blue zircon gemstones on the market, but many of the red, red-orange, or violet-red zircon on the market has not undergone any kind of heat treatment. The resulting color change of heat-treated zircon is permanent. To date, there are no examples of a synthetic zircon.
Zircon Colour Natural zircon crystal originally comes in earthy brown, yellow, strong green and bright red. Heated or treated zircons can come in variety of colors from colorless white, yellow, red, blue. Purple, bright red etc. Cut Zircon gem stones are cut and faceted into many fancy shapes like oval, round, square etc. Carat 1 carat to 5 carat zircon gemstones are mostly used in jewelry , but big sizes up to 25 carats are also not uncommon. Clarity Zircon of good fine quality are always transparent. Any visible flaw or inclusions in the gemstone diminishes the value of this gemstone substantially.
Heat treatment in genuine zircon roughs results in colorless and blue colored zircon. In the 1920s, a blue zircon gem stone made an entry into the gemstone market. Endowed with spectacular brilliance, this zircon was an immediate success. Later on, investigations and close inspections revealed that a large deposit of unattractive brown zircon had stimulated color improvement experimentation by the local entrepreneurs. Heating in an oxygen free environment had turned this brown mineral into attractive and beautiful bright blue gem. When the treatment process was revealed, the gemstone market simply accepted the information and the demand for this new blue zircon gems continued unabated. One must keep in mind that natural untreated zircon crystals are very rare and most of the zircons available in the market today are heat-treated and that the color of some of these heated stones may change over time.
Blue Zircon Gemstone Images
