Oh, it's so pretty! It's really too bad you can't set it in something and compare it that way since setting makes a stone face up even whiter. And thank you for all the photos, they are so much fun to see. There isn't a hint of green in the stone, but you might see some in my eyes for a little while!

This thread is causing me to think that moissanite picks up a lot more whiteness once set than a diamond does.

Several of the comments of people comparing mounted standard moissanite to unmounted Mira's seem to reflect that fact (saying they didn't see much difference, when in fact we know there is a 4 grade color improvement from before/after via the Mira treatment). You can check the Mira page for direct before/after photos for example.

Diamonds normally bump at least 1 color grade or more, when mounted for example (also why no grading lab will grade unless it's loose), but I'm starting to suspect that moissanite may magnify that effect and that would explain some of the feedback.

Thus, maybe we'll have to see about including a temporary mounting so that people can make a more apple-apple comparison.

Best regards
Less

Wow I love the pictures of the Mira taken in daylight. Too bad there won't be a pear or an OMC to be set in a custom setting.Le sigh ~Red

This is re-enforcing my theory that moissanite pulls in more surrounding color than diamond, and thus mounting makes for a much bigger color improvement in moissy than in diamond.

You had a loose Mira and a mounted raw moissy. Compare them both loose, or both mounted, and you might have had a different opinion.

We've had very positive feedback on every Mira that has gone out mounted and I'm starting to think that mounting them is whitening them even more than we would have expected (i.e. a 1 color grade boost).

We might mount one and see if we can get a 'face up' color grade after mounting for comparison.

Best regards
Less

Umm...re point #2, I wasn't making a defamatory comment on NAGL. I am merely repeating what I have heard for years now, GIA and AGS are the only labs that grade properly, everyone else you can expect a grade or two difference in color and clarity.

I'm not making this up, sorry if it upsets. Glad to hear there are GIA graders at NAGL though.

Hi Less,

Normally I would be totally inclined to agree with you on this. Except I actually had the setting in my possession and was able to drop it in. Here is a picture of the setting:


Plus, I used to own this exact ring before with a standard moissy and never had this problem! My stone looked like the first picture-probably a little more faded since the stone was smaller, but still that same "watered down mountain dew" color This happened especially in the sun and near windows on a sunny day. in overcast or dim lighting it looked amazing.

I certainly am not out trying to be negative against Mira-I think you are doing a fantastic job! I just wonder, now that I have seen another person who saw what I did, is it possible that maybe something happened to those particular stones during processing that causes them to turn this odd color?

Thanks Less!!

I have always been so curious to know if Moissanite has florescence. Mine shows color but only when in low levels of natural sunlight. High levels of sun, low/high levels of all other kind of lighting make it look amazing. I think the high levels of sun make it so sparkly it's hard to see any color.

I'm glad that I didn't pre-order Mira as this is the kind of thing I was so worried about. After experiencing Moissanite, WinkCZ and Asha, WinkCZ is my clear winner.

Thanks for the info, that is helpful.

I would have to adjust my theory then - we are processing the Mira's identically. However, it is clear to us that the starting raw stones from C&C are from different batches (hence different starting tints, etc) and so the only thing that makes sense is that specific material reacts differently in different lighting.

We'll have to setup a specific lighting to screen out for stones that do this then as part of the pre-screen.

Thats my current theory at least based on the feedback so far. As noted, most people are just reporting very positive feedback in all lighting, so the only explanation given identical treatment is variations in the starting material.

For reference, C&C has not bought any new rough moissanite for seven years or so...they have a huge backlog of inventory grown over many years, and so its material that has been grown in varying conditions (as Cree got better at growing).

Best regards
Less

I understand what you are saying in general, as we have been burned by buying an EGL Europe F diamond, recutting it to H&A proportions, and then sending it to EGL US where they promptly graded it H color....apparently EGL Europe is notorious for lax standards but we didn't know that years ago.

However....while that may be true in some cases, making a blanket statement is not the right thing to do.

And, posting false information with the claim that you are 'merely repeating what you heard' is still posting defamatory comments.

And in this case it would be 'libel per se' b/c it impunes someones ability in their profession, meaning an easier case with more damages.

The US (and likely UK) legal system doesn't care if you are 'repeating what you heard', false statements that you publish are your responsibility.

Specifically for NAGL - if NAGL has 2 former GIA graders as their only graders, meaning the same graders you would get if you sent it to the GIA just a couple years ago, how could there be a difference between GIA and NAGL?

The graders lost their ability to grade once they left GIA? The logic isn't there.

Best regards
Less

Ok, some answers at last as to what is going on here:

NAGL used a dichroscope to inspect some raw moissanites and figured out what is going on.

Moissanite is doubly-refractive and thus has effectively a primary and secondary color.

Normally, you mostly see the primary color but in certain lighting, the secondary color can come into play.

If the secondary color is excessively strong, then it can suddenly color modify your stone and thus you get the chameleon or moody like behaviour of moissanite, but one that varies stone to stone.

Therefore, we are going to have to start pre-screening all Mira candidates using the dichroscope to ensure they don't have excessive hidden secondary color and thus avoid this buttery yellow from showing up only under certain lighting.

Here's a link showing a dichroscope in action and you can see how it shows the primary and secondary color in some other doubly refractive material:
http://www.faceters.com/askjeff/answer36.shtml

Basically though, this means we'll have yet another hurdle to screen out Mira candidates and since we're already rejecting up to 50%, thats going to make the Mira cut even harder to pass.

But, thanks for the photos and feedback on this thread as it definitely helped us solve what otherwise seemed a bit inexplicable.

Also, we'll contact hync and see about getting that Mira back and sending out a dichroscope screened replacement Mira.

Best regards
Less