This listing is for a really fascinating moissanite specimen in a display jar,

including an info card providing information about moissanite.

This kit is great for avid mineral specimen collectors or beginners.

It would be a perfect gift set for getting someone interested in mineral collecting and science.

The 1 centimeter scale cube is for size comparison only. It is not included in the sale.

The photos are of several different specimens, but this listings is for one specimen with an info card.
The photos show multiple specimens to give a representation of the variety of shapes and colors in these specimens.

I offer a shipping discount for customers who combine their payments for multiple purchases into one payment!

The discount is regular shipping price for the first item and just 50 cents for each additional item!

To be sure you get your shipping discount just make sure all the items you want to purchase are in your cart.

Auctions you win are added to your cart automatically.

For any "buy it now" items or second chance offers, be sure to click the "add to cart" button, NOT the "buy it now" button.

Once all of your items are in your cart just pay for them from your cart and the combined shipping discount should be applied automatically.

I offer a money back guarantee on every item I sell.

If you are not 100% happy with your purchase just send me a message to let me know

and I will buy back the item for your full purchase price.

Hi there. I am selling this really awesome iridescent Moissanite crystal cluster mineral specimen.

 Sometimes it is called Silicon Carbide by-product Crystals. It is TOTALLY GORGEOUS! 

Once this is in the light and you move it, it sparkles with a rainbow of colors, and it amazing stuff!!!! 

This is one of my favorites! This piece is literally perfect. 

It is from Mexico. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask me. 

Have fun bidding, thanks so much for visiting my auction and have a great day:>)

The following is a wikipedia entry about this mineral:

Moissanite

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Moissanite

Moissanite-USGS-20-1001d-14x-.jpg

General

Category Mineral species

Formula

(repeating unit) SiC

Strunz classification 1.DA.05

Crystal system 6H polytype, most common: hexagonal

Crystal class 6H polytype: dihexagonal pyramidal (6mm) 

H-M symbol: (6mm)

Space group 6H polytype: P63mc

Identification

Color Colorless, green, yellow

Crystal habit Generally found as inclusions in other minerals

Cleavage (0001) indistinct

Fracture Conchoidal – fractures developed in brittle materials characterized by smoothly curving surfaces, e.g., quartz

Mohs scale hardness 9.5

Luster Adamantine to metallic

Streak greenish gray

Diaphaneity transparent

Specific gravity 3.218–3.22

Refractive index nω=2.654 nε=2.967, Birefringence 0.313 (6H form)

Ultraviolet fluorescence orange-red

Melting point 2730 °C (decomposes)

Solubility none

Other characteristics Not radioactive, non-magnetic

References [1][2][3]

Moissanite (/ˈmɔɪsənaɪt/)[4] is naturally occurring silicon carbide and its various crystalline polymorphs. It has the chemical formula SiC and is a rare mineral, discovered by the French chemist Henri Moissan in 1893. Silicon carbide is useful for commercial and industrial applications due to its hardness, optical properties and thermal conductivity. Efforts to synthesize silicon carbide in a laboratory began in the early 1900s.[citation needed]

Contents

1 Background

2 Geological occurrence

3 Meteorites

4 Sources

5 Physical properties

6 Applications

7 See also

8 References

9 Further reading

Background

Mineral moissanite was discovered by Henri Moissan while examining rock samples from a meteor crater located in Canyon Diablo, Arizona, in 1893. At first, he mistakenly identified the crystals as diamonds, but in 1904 he identified the crystals as silicon carbide.[5][6] Artificial silicon carbide had been synthesized in the lab by Edward G. Acheson just two years before Moissan's discovery.[7]

The mineral form of silicon carbide was named moissanite in honor of Moissan later on in his life. The discovery in the Canyon Diablo meteorite and other places was challenged for a long time as carborundum contamination from man-made abrasive tools.[8]

Geological occurrence

Until the 1950s no other source, apart from meteorites, had been encountered. Later moissanite was found as inclusions in kimberlite from a diamond mine in Yakutia in 1959, and in the Green River Formation in Wyoming in 1958.[9] The existence of moissanite in nature was questioned even in 1986 by Charles Milton, an American geologist.[10]

Moissanite, in its natural form, is very rare. It has been discovered only in a small variety of places from upper mantle rock to meteorites. Discoveries have shown that moissanite occurs naturally as inclusions in diamonds, xenoliths, and ultramafic rocks such as kimberlite and lamproite.[8] They have also been identified in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites as presolar grains.[11]

Meteorites

Analysis of silicon carbide grains found in the Murchison meteorite has revealed anomalous isotopic ratios of carbon and silicon, indicating an origin from outside the solar system.[12] 99% of these silicon carbide grains originate around carbon-rich asymptotic giant branch stars. Silicon carbide is commonly found around these stars, as deduced from their infrared spectra.[citation needed]

Sources

All applications of silicon carbide today use synthetic material, as the natural material is very scarce.

Silicon carbide was first synthesized by Jöns Jacob Berzelius, who is best known for his discovery of silicon.[13] Years later, Edward Goodrich Acheson produced viable minerals that could substitute for diamond as an abrasive and cutting material. This was possible, as moissanite is one of the hardest substances known, with a hardness below that of diamond and comparable with those of cubic boron nitride and boron.

Pure synthetic moissanite can be made from thermal decomposition of the preceramic polymer poly(methylsilyne), requiring no binding matrix, e.g., cobalt metal powder.

Physical properties

Main article: Silicon carbide

The crystalline structure is held together with strong covalent bonding similar to diamonds,[5] that allows moissanite to withstand high pressures up to 52.1 gigapascals.[5][14] Colors vary widely and are graded from D to K range on the diamond color grading scale.[15]

Applications

Main article: Silicon carbide § Uses

A moissanite engagement ring

Moissanite was introduced to the jewelry market in 1998 after Charles & Colvard, formerly known as C3 Inc., received patents to create and market lab-grown silicon carbide gemstones, becoming the first firm to do so. Charles & Colvard currently makes and distributes moissanite jewelry and loose gems under the trademarks Forever One, Forever Brilliant and Forever Classic.[16] Other manufacturers market silicon carbide gemstones under trademarked names such as Amora and Berzelian. Moissanite is regarded as a diamond alternative, with some optical properties exceeding those of diamond. Its lower price and less exploitative mining practices necessary to obtain it make it a popular alternative to diamonds. Due in part to the similar thermal conductivity of moissanite and diamond, it is a popular target for scams; however, higher electrical conductivity and birefringence of moissanite may alert a buyer to fraud. In addition, thermochromism is exhibited in moissanite, such that heating it gradually will cause it to change color starting at around 65 °C (150 °F). This color change can be diagnostic for distinguishing diamond from moissanite, although birefringence and electrical conductivity differential are more practical diagnostic differentiators.[17] On the Mohs scale of mineral hardness it is a 9.5, with a diamond being a 10.[3] In many developed countries, the use of moissanite in jewelry was controlled by the patents held by Charles & Colvard; these patents expired in August 2015 for the United States, and in 2016 in most other countries except Mexico, where it remained under patent until 2018.[18][19][20]

Because of its hardness, it can be used in high-pressure experiments, as a replacement for diamond (see diamond anvil cell).[5] Since large diamonds are usually too expensive to be used as anvils, synthetic moissanite is more often used in large-volume experiments. Synthetic moissanite is also interesting for electronic and thermal applications because its thermal conductivity is similar to that of diamonds.[14] High power silicon carbide electronic devices are expected to find use in the design of protection circuits used for motors, actuators, and energy storage or pulse power systems.[21] It also exhibits thermoluminescence,[22] making it useful in radiation dosimetry.[23]

See also

Glossary of meteoritics

Engagement ring

Fair trade

Charles & Colvard

Diamond

Cubic zirconia