Zircons: More Precious than Diamonds
By Donald R. Prothero
These tiny crystals in grains of sand hold evidence of Earth's early oceans and life.
This Article From Issue
January-February 2018
Volume 106, Number 1
Page 50
If you flip channels and watch some of those home-shopping shows or infomercials on television, sooner or later you see someone hawking gaudy jewelry made of “cubic zirconia crystals.” They ooh and ahh about the diamondlike appearance of the cubic zirconia crystals, for sale at a fraction of the cost of real diamonds—but who can tell? Likewise, you can find many vendors online touting their cubic zirconia jewelry.
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