Twice as nice

We all know that diamonds are a girl’s best friend but they aren’t too friendly on the girl’s pocket! But what if there was an option that let you enjoy a brighter lustre and sparkle at a really down to earth price? And no,it’s not an artificial,costume jewellery version either. This ‘gem’ of an idea comes courtesy Moissanite,a lesser known gemstone that boasts of finer properties than diamonds and currently doesn’t cost a bomb! “It has a brilliance and lustre that’s more than a diamond,” informed Parag Agarwal,director of Sanguine Industries who has brought to the city a two-day exhibition of Moissanite jewellery starting January 22 at Hotel Aroma. Taking view of the immense popularity of Moissanite elsewhere in the world,Mumbai-based Sanguine Industries forayed in its distribution in India since 2003. “Moissanite is obtained from meteorites and so is called a gift from the stars. In 1893,Nobel-Prize winning scientist Henri Moissan began studying fragments of a meteorite crater that crashed in the desert of Arizona in the USA,” Parag runs us a quick time capsule. It was in these fragments that Dr Moissan discovered minute quantities of a shimmering new mineral. “It was only in the late ‘90s that a master diamond cutter observed samples of Moissanite and suggested that properly cut crystals would make a brilliant new jewel. Now,USA-based Charles & Colvard makes Moissanites through its proprietary process and is the sole source for Moissanites to the world,” elaborates Agarwal who has launched an exclusive brand of Moissanite jewellery called ‘Fiona’. “The brand aims at offering women affordable solitaires,which otherwise is considered as a luxury,” Agarwal smiles to say. Fiona brings in rings,earrings,bracelets,bangles,necklaces,three-stone rings and pendants with prices starting at Rs 10,000.