Cubic Zirconia

Cubic Zirconia is a lab created/synthetic substitute for diamond, it is a simulated stone and should not be mistaken with the naturally occuring zircon. Because it is man made it is often used in place of all the gemstones, as it is available in all colours.

A popular choice for those who work with precious metal clay workers, as it can be kiln-fired with care, where some of the more brittle natural stones would fracture.

Paste

'Paste' gems have been around since Roman times, so called because high content silica sand (Such as flint) was mixed in a wet paste before firing to ensure an even uniform colour and fired in the same way as glass, colour would be derived from the powdered minerals that gave the real gem their colour, such as chromium powder for green, mangnese for pink, iron for yellow, etc.

Like glass the paste stones could be formed into shape with moulds, however the resulting stones would have smooth edges, which easily identified them as paste, instead of the sharp facets of cut stones.

The process of creating paste stones is a very skillful art.