Thanks so much to everyone for all of the great information on these forums. After looking at many, many related sites, this has been the most helpful!

Now I need your advice. My wife wants a solitaire pendant, and I want to get her the nicest one I can. Honestly, if I could afford a .75ct diamond, I might buy it, but I can't afford $2500-$3000, and the many ethical problems of diamonds bother me. Moissanite is a beautiful precious stone without the ethical baggage. So, after looking at the many options, I've decided to go with Amora Moissanite. (Too bad the Amora Gem isn't available yet.)

We got married when we were poor college students and my wife doesn't have any really nice jewelry now, but I know she wants a diamond solitaire pendant. Here's what I'm looking at buying her:
http://www.moissaniteco.com/round-moissanite-6prong-crown-solitaire-pendant-p-13897.html (White Gold 1.5mm Wheat Chain and Amora Upgrade)

One thing I'm a bit worried about is that she doesn't know much about diamonds and nothing about diamond alternatives like moissanite. The gift will be a surprise, but how do I introduce her to moissanite? She'll of course assume it's a diamond at first, but I don't want her to feel disappointed that it's not. What should I do?

Hmm.. This might sound wierd, but why not rent the movie "Blood Diamond" and when it is over, you guys can talk all about how much you disagree with that sort of exploitation of humanity etc.. Maybe then you will get an understanding of her opinions on sims, and maybe plant the seed on how terrible diamond mining can be from a humanitarian point of view.

Maybe then you can buy the moissanite pendant and when you tell her it's moissanite, she will be pleasantly surprised. That is, of course, after the movie she seemed good with the idea of alternate stones.. (Maybe ask her, when the movie is over, if she thinks a diamond is worth that sort of money, and with those consequences..)

Wow, this is a tough question, especially since you want to surprise her!

When I was looking for an upgrade engagement ring, I knew that diamonds were out because of the ethical and environmental issues involved in mining them. With two kids in university (and a third one starting in a couple of years) my budget was also quite small. I don't mind CZ at all - bling is bling! But I did want something more durable for my ring so, like you, I did a lot of research and came across moissanite. It took some convincing to get my husband on board, but once he saw my ring he was sold.

Is your wife into bling? If so, you could introduce her to moissy as something you discovered online - "wow, look honey, beautiful, ethical, durable and affordable bling!" and see how she likes it. Another way may be to just tell her you've found a gemstone named moissanite and would like to get her a piece (without telling her which one) show her the boards and MoCo and let her come to her own conclusion. You could also "accidentally" leave a BTD forum page with pics of moissy pieces open on your computer when she's around, see if it piques her curiosity. You could just confess, tell her that you want to make her happy and, because of that, you've done a lot of research and found moissanite - then together review what you know about diamonds and alternatives. Good luck! Please keep us updated and post pics when she gets her new piece.

Much depends on your wife, her personality and expectations.
I would start with the talk about diamonds and alternatives. Many (most?) women do not know of alternatives other than CZ. While you want to surprise her I wouldn't recommend giving her the pendant and then explaining moissanite unless you are sure she is open to alternatives. It would be a shame for a cloud to be hanging over such a sweet gesture and lovely gift! Of course she may well love the pendant because it is from you, regardless of the stone.

Would she have any friends open to having the conversation with her? That way you could get feedback without revealing anything. She might even bring it up to you as if she was the one who 'discovered' moissanite in the first place. Of course if the friends would look down on anything other than a diamond then that would be counterproductive.

You could 'accidentally' stumble across a web page or e-bay listing about moissanite...or an article about diamonds that leads you to alternatives...?

Oh, one more thing I was thinking of...
If you think she will wear the pendant very often then consider an adjustable chain. I am soooo glad I got one. I wear my pendant almost every day and do adjust the length depending on the neckline of the top I am wearing.

I see the dilemma... She WILL assume it is a diamond when she opens it and you will have to tell her the truth. And realistically, she may have some pangs of disappointment upon first hearing "it is not actually a diamond". Because when you don't know about alternatives, you tend to just think in terms of real and fake... But with some quick talking, and a short education lesson in what moissy actually is, she may be open minded about it, see it's beauty, and want to give it a try. Of course, I would preface all of it with "if you don't want this one, we will send it back and get the diamond version we can afford. No problem hunny, I just want you to be happy." Some women WOULD prefer a smaller diamond than a larger moissy, so letting her know that that is okay with you will make her feel like she still has a choice in the pendant that she wears.

I love moissy and wear it for what it is. But she may not want to lie and she may not want to say it isn't diamond..and when dealing with all that "stuff" it could make her not want to wear it as much, for fear of responding to comments.

So true jcent. My co-worker has a very pretty .25ct diamond pendant and while she loves my moissy ring, she prefers diamonds and will get them in whatever size her budget allows

Thinking about before I knew about moissy, I would have preferred DH talk to me before hand and not surprise me with a moissanite. Not knowing anything different I would have expected a diamond and instantly thought 'fake' upon hearing that it was something else.

It's not that I wasn't open to alternatives, I just didn't know anything beyond diamond and CZ. With some information I was more than willing to consider moissanite. In our case I found moissy first and had to convince DH that it was really what I wanted instead of a diamond.

Hmm.. I actually would have been happy to have gotten a moissy before I had known about it. Not so much a CZ, but a moissy, yes. If I was given a moissy present with some information on it, I probably would have been very receptive. I mentioned the blood diamond movie, because if I had gotten a moissy necklace within days of watching that, I probably would have been even more touched.

Food for thought; not all ladies are alike in jewelry terms.

No, not all ladies are alike at all!! And while I think the OP has the very best intentions, and while I am more than happy to have moissanite, I just think it is important that his wife gets the choice. She has been dreaming about a diamond pendant...so maybe moissy will fulfill that dream, or maybe it won't. But that should be her choice.