Zircon is a zirconium silicate gemstone with impressive fire, refraction, and color range. Historically, Australian zircon is the oldest mineral found on earth at 4.4 billion years old!

Besides its age, what is zircon known for?

Zircon is renowned for its intense coloring, great luster, and high refractive index. A higher refractive index means the stone reflects light from more angles. In other words: more sparkle!

With zircon’s sparkle comes impressive brilliance and “fire,” a gemological term for multi-colored flashes of light. You may recognize fire from another gem: diamond. In fact, zircon’s optical effects have led to centuries of confusion with diamonds.

What is special about zircon? Today we’ll take a deep dive into zircon’s unique properties and features, including how much a zircon is worth and what it can do for you!

Before we dive in, let’s cover some basics: what is zircon?Zircon is a transparent semi-precious gemstone that comes in a range of colors, from yellows and greens to the most popular: electric blue. Besides being a fan-favorite, the blue zircon stone commemorates multiple occasions.

Our winter babies get honored with a blue zircon birthstone for December! Along with your other birthstones, violet tanzanite, and blue-green turquoise, you’re ready for any winter soiree.

Do you know anyone celebrating an anniversary soon? Blue zircon is the traditional gemstone for the fourth wedding anniversary! Plus, yellow zircon is an alternate gemstone for the eleventh wedding anniversary, so why not gift some zircon jewellery to commemorate the occasion?

Speaking of love, zircon is the gemstone of Venus, the planet of love and relationships in astrology. Venus rules two zodiac signs, so zircon is a lucky zodiac stone for both Libra and Taurus!

Mineral Characteristics

Zircon is a zirconium silicate mineral, though some aspects in the zircon composition are usually substituted for other elements.

One unique zircon trait is the common presence of small amounts of radioactive substances, namely hafnium, uranium and thorium. These elements give zircon two more unique traits:

1. The ability to change its refractive index and density over time, and

2. Usefulness in determining the age of rocks or fossils

Clearly it’s an important mineral, but is zircon a real gemstone? Yes, it is!

The Zircon gemstone family includes jacinth (or hyacinth.) Jacinth historically referred to hessonite or topaz, but now we know it as a transparent reddish-brown zircon variety. Gemologists use the term jargon for gem-quality zircons that aren’t jacinth.

On the Mohs mineral hardness scale, zircon ranks at 7.5, below cubic zirconia. Are zircon and cubic zirconia the same thing?

Despite popular belief, cubic zirconia and zircon are not the same. For one, cubic zirconia is a synthetic gemstone made of zirconium oxide. Secondly, natural zircon is harder to come by and valued higher than cubic zirconia. Both stones are popular diamond simulants.

Besides colorless specimens, zircon has shades or mixtures of yellow, green, brown, red, and blue.

Want to know the rest of zircon’s properties? Check out the list below!