Blue Zircon

Color:   Pale blue to bright sky blue to slightly greenish blue
   
Gem Family:   Zircon is a gem family available in a wide variety of colors including green, dark red, yellow, brown, orange and colorless.
   
Source:   Zircon is found Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Australia, and other countries but the best blue zircon is found in Cambodia, which produces kingfisher blues not seen anywhere else.
   
Clarity:   Transparent with good clarity. Zircons have so much brilliance and fire that inclusions can be hard to see.
   
Size Range:   0.5 carat to 5 carats
   
Shapes Available:   Ovals, round, trillions, and cushions
   
Enhancement:   Blue zircon is heated to turn a few brown colors into blues.
   
Lore & History:   Hindu poets tell of the Kalpa Tree, the ultimate gift to the gods, which was a glowing tree covered with gemstone fruit with leaves of zircon. Zircon has long had a supporting role to more well-known gemstones, often stepping in as an understudy when they were unavailable. In the middle ages, zircon was said to aid sleep, bring prosperity, and promote honor and wisdom in its owner. The name probably comes from the Persian word zargun which means "gold-colored."
   
Toughness & Hardness:   The hardness of Zircon is 6 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale.
   
Care & Cleaning:   Zircon is hard but can be brittle. Try not to expose your zircon to impact or abrasion. Store zircon jewelry with care to avoid scratches. Clean with mild dish soap: use a toothbrush to scrub behind the stone where dust can collect.
   
Special Characteristics:   Natural zircon today suffers for the similarity of its name to cubic zirconia, the laboratory-grown diamond imitation. Some don't realize that there is a beautiful natural gemstone called zircon. Zircon occurs in a wide range of colors but for many years, the most popular was the colorless variety that looks more like diamond than any other natural stone due to its brilliance and dispersion.