I will try to refrence each of your questions but please feel free to PM me, I adore my moissy and am all about helping ladies with questions out.
Price- As the PP said, they are not cheap, only cheap by comparison to diamond, my moissy is a smidge over a carat not sure the exact specs but we saved several hundred dollars or maybe more by going moissy.
Sparkle- they have doublt the refraction of a diamond, they have a tremendous brilliance about them that really gets them noticed, but honestly it is not so much so that people are like wow who bought you that disco ball and why are you wearing it as an engagement ring. I had concerns about this too before I got my moissy they are not sold anywhere in my state, so my Fiance got my moissy online, neither of us having seen a moissy in person, was a gamble, but couldn’t be more pleased. I get a compliment on my ring at least once a week
Durability- As you probably know diamonds are the hardest stone you can get, you can only cut diamond with diamond on the Mohs hardness scale a diamond is a 10 and a moissy is a 9.25 for compairison a CZ is an 8.25 an amethyst is a 7. This is important to know because the lower you go on the scale the greater the chance of scrathing your stone. I originally wanted an opal ering, but opal is a soft stone approx. a 6.5 and I wanted my stone to be for life. For a testimonal I am INSANELY hard on my jewerly especially rings, and my moissy looks brand new, no scuffs or scratches.
What the heck is Moissanite?? – I went through this too. Ok, it is a naturally occuring stone, it just does not occur naturally on earth. It occurs naturally in meterorites (which I find insanely cool just sayin) It was discovered and studied, and it was found that they could be made. So if you get a moissy you should know
1. it is a real stone, not a simulant. it’s got the same “DNA” as a floatin’ on a meteor moissanite. whereas CZ is a diamond simulant, not the same “DNA” as a diamond
2. but it was not harvested off in space somewhere, as cool as that would be, i’m sure that would run the price way up. lol anyway, it is manmade in a lab, but it is no less a real moissanite, than dolly the cloned sheep was a real sheep.
They are popular I think for all the above reasons, they are more affordable than diamond while maintaining a traditional look and feel. They are durable like diamond, and they are stunning.
my fiance & I researched moissy for well over a year before he bought my ring so learn learn learn till you are comfortable no matter what stone you choose!
Good luck in your search for the perfect ering for you and the love of your life. Go with your good sense and your heart! It’s your engagment ring and only you and your hubby to be can be the judge of what is best for you!
Feel free to PM me, and also this site has some good info.http://www.4facets.com/moissanite.html