ZIRCON

Known for its high refractive index and strong dispersion, it has an intense fire and great brilliance and therefore the colorless variety is the most famous as it closely resembles diamond. It also offers various colors like green, blue, orange, red, brown and yellow as these colors are present due to the impurities in it. Zircons are classified in two types i.e., “high zircon” and “low zircon”. High zircon is the one, which has a strong color with high refractive index and specific gravity whereas the low zircon has milky colors with low refractive index and specific gravity. The reason for low zircon is that they contain radioactive elements due to which they decompose in a metamict structure. On the other hand, high zircon stays undamaged. Zircon is mainly found in Sri Lanka. Other localities are Thailand, Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia, Brazil, Australia, Kampuchea, Nigeria, France and Tanzania.

Crystal Structure: Tetragonal

Hardness: 7.5

Specific Gravity: 3.90-4.71

Refractive Index: 1.93-1.98

Colors: Colorless, yellow, brown, orange, red, violet, blue and green.

Luster: Resinous to adamantine

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