VALENTINE Cubic Zirconium - COOL PINK ICE HEART 13.26 cts

Cubic Zirconia is well known as a substitute for diamond, due to its high hardness and great fire.  But in recent years, it has established itself as a gorgeous gem in its own right.  CZ is a beautiful synthetic gemstone that is durable and inexpensive and now even comes in any color of the rainbow, making it even more desirable.

Cubic Zirconia is a cubic form of zirconium oxide that is created in a laboratory, thus it is not a mineral.

Cubic Zirconia was discovered in its natural state in 1937 by two German mineralogists, von Stackelberg and Chudoba.  It was in a highly metamict zircon given to them by B.W. Anderson.  The zircon contained tiny crystals that were determined to be the cubic form of zirconium oxide by x-ray diffraction.  The two mineralogists thought so little of their discovery that they did not even give it a name; which is why it is still known by its scientific name, cubic zirconia.