Danburite is not very well known at the moment but from a very small base is growing in popularity

The crystals are similar to topaz and are completely colourless and are very easily mistaken for a diamond or white sapphire.

In my own opinion the lustre of the Danburite is closer to the Diamond than the White Sapphire. The White Sapphire in my view always looks well; 'White' compared with the Diamond which always has a very slight Silver lustre. The Danburite if cut well goes closer to the Diamond in this area I think.

Given the very small production from the active mines in the world today it is not likely that Danburite will become a common item in every jewellery store. Most likely this gem will stay in something of a nice market for the foreseeable future.

Danburite was originally found in Danbury, Connecticut but today stones are sourced from

- Danbury, USA

- Mogok, Burma

- Russell, USA

- Charcas, Mexico

- Kyushu Island, Japan
                                                                                                                                                          
- Uri, Switzerland

- Madagascar (recent finds)

A Danburite Gem after Cutting

One main difference from Diamond is the Hardness: Danburite on the MOH scale rates a figure of 7 to 7.5, much softer than Diamonds 10. This is the key physical difference to the end buyer. The Danburite is more prone to chipping and scratching than Diamond (or for White Sapphire for that matter)

The easiest way to tell Danburite from Diamond is using a typical Refractometer test which your local jeweller should be able to do. Diamond has a refractive index (see note below) of 2.42 while Danburite is 1.63 (and White Sapphire 1.77). Noting diamonds figure of 2.42 is outside the capability of a lot of standard testers, there are diamond specific testing devices typically used only for diamond.

Note: Refractive index is the measure by which the speed of light slows down inside the stone. It doesn’t have any real life daily application, but it is a handy way to determine which gems are real and which are fake and simply which is which if two gems look the same

We have a large range of items at NRS-Diamonds & are constantly updating our stocks (http://stores.ebay.com.au/NRS-GEMS-and-DIAMONDS)

And just in case you’re not happy with your purchase we offer refunds as detailed in our eBay advertising & we’re always happy to provide advise.

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