A simple search in Google would bring up so many GRA's certifications of Mossainate which might leave one with more question than answers.
Moissanite by itself is another lab-grown gemstone altogether, differentiating itself from lab-grown diamond; which created its own league due to its higher refractive index, giving consumers more colours across the spectrum at an even lower price point. The hardness however is compromised as compared to a lab-grown diamond in the case of Moissanite.
Moissanites are actually natural silicon carbide and its various crystalline polymorphs. It is even considered a rare mineral. Even rarer than diamond, but however due to the popularity to use Moissanite as a gemstone brings in a huge market of lab-grown Moissanite. Most Moissanite is also lab-grown as natural Moissanite is incredibly rare.
This blog post however is meant to share what we'd learn about the GRA certification that usually comes with Moissanite.
Upon production in the laboratory (or a "factory"), certifications for moissanite are usually done in a very "wholesale" way where they are batched, sent to a place to get its certification done, then sent out to suppliers. Most supplies received the certification together with the gemstones themselves, and henceforth they won't do any more tests and certification on their own side.
One of the more convenient lab certification brands that the manufacturers use would be GRA.
However, upon digging, the amount of GRA clones and fake CRA certification around would make you doubt not just the authenticity, but also the credibility of the GRA institution itself as there are just too many GRA entities around.
There are afew things that we would do to at least make sure that the Moissanite is credible.
- true our gemstone specialist, we would make sure the quality is visible to naked eyes, the lustre, and brilliance
- getting from a reliable manufacturer
- making sure at least the GRA website checks out with the identification number
- making sure the GRA website itself does or at least have some specialization in gemstone/jewellery
For the last point, we do our due diligence to check out the address of the place. From checking with locals, or location directory/blueprint/layout, we would at least make sure that the address is a legitimate address, with a registered/running business. There are, from our experience, several Moissanite GRA certification institutes goes by several names with the same addresses.
One issue to note is since it is being lab-grown, most certifications won't go as far as to note down or include what kind of composition the designated gemstone is made of. This in turn creates a huge ripple effect, as uninformed sellers could even end up selling lab-grown Moissanite that is not "Moissanite", as they don't even use the silicon carbide with is essentially what makes Moissanite, a Moissanite.
At the end of the day, in some aspects, the GRA certainly raises more questions than answers, but on the other hand, there are other factors as mentioned that we can do, from checking to getting it from a reliable manufacturer to ensure that the quality of the Moissanite is of satisfactory quality.