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Zircon

Zircon
  • Translations : Циркон, zircó, cirkon, zirkon, zirkoon, zirkoni, açorite, zirko, azorit, oesterdit, zirkonit, zircone, ジルコン, 鋯石, cirkonas, cyrkon, Zircão, Циркон, Zircón, açorita,
  • Synonym : azorite, lyncurite, oesterdite, tachyaphaltite, zirconite, circone, meta-zircon, ostranite, turmali
  • Etymology : from the Persian "azargun" "zar", gold and "gun"
  • Comment : Le zircon

The zircon is a natural gemstone not so well-known and often confused with cubic zirconium (synthetic material create to imitate diamond with different chemical composition).

It is colorless when it's pure, these are inclusions who give it colors : blue, red, brown, yellow, orange and rarely green.

The zircon is a new way to ride up time. In fact, zircon is one of the oldest material on Earth. The oldest specimens comes from Jack Hills in Australia.

Heated between 800° and 1000°C, the brown zircon can become bleu and the light blue can become bright blue.

To buy zircon ->

To know more about mineralogy of the zircon see mindat.org->

Gemological data

  • Chemical formula : ZrSiO4
  • Hardness (Mohs) : 6.5 - 7.5
  • Density : 3.9 - 4.8
  • Refractive index : 1.78 - 1.85
  • Crystal system : quadratic

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