16/05/2025 Jewellery & Gems
Zircon is a gemstone that’s not commonly known among jewellery buyers, not to be confused with cubic zirconium – a synthetic diamond simulant, Zircon is a beautiful gemstone in its own right, it comes in a number of beautiful colours the most popular in jewellery being blue.
Because they’re in greater demand, blue zircons usually command higher prices than any of the other varieties, industry analysts believe that blue zircon has yet to reach its full market potential.
Zircon’s blue, almost always the result of heat treatment, comes in a range that includes very slightly greenish blue, greenish blue, and very strongly greenish blue – heat treatment is a permanent and stable treatment which is industry accepted. The adamantine lustre of zircon means it takes a high polish, and they are generally relatively free of inclusions making them a popular choice for setting in jewellery.
It’s a challenge to cut zircon because the gem is brittle. Cutters usually fashion zircon in the brilliant style to take advantage of its lustre and fire. A modification of the brilliant cut, known as the “zircon cut,” uses eight extra facets around the gem’s lower portion, called the pavilion. This isn’t seen very often today because of the extra labour costs involved.
Zircon has been a popular stone throughout history, in the Middle Ages it was thought to induce sound sleep, drive away evil spirits, and promote riches, honour, and wisdom.
In Victorian times colourless Zircon was used to imitate diamond however it was long ago replaced in that role by more convincing look-alikes
Blue zircon was a particular favourite in Victorian times, when fine gems were often featured in English jewellery dating from the 1880s. Gemmologist George Kunz—Tiffany’s famed gem buyer—was a notable zircon advocate.