Natural zircon

The real December stone, and heavier than it looks.

Hold a strand of natural zircon up to a window and the colors sort themselves out: honey, cognac, red-brown, a few beads leaning olive. The beads are small and they are heavy, heavier than they look, and they throw more fire than any other brown stone we handle. Look through a loupe at a faceted rondelle and the far facet edges appear doubled, two lines where you expect one. That doubling is how the stone signs its name.

Where it comes from

Zircon is a zirconium silicate that turns up as a minor mineral in granite, in gneiss, and in the sediments washed out of them, which makes it common in the ground and uncommon on a bead strand. The brown and multicolor material we buy comes from Tanzania, Sri Lanka and Madagascar. People have cut it as a gem for nearly two thousand years. Many scholars think the name comes from the Arabic word zarkun. Colorless zircon has refraction and fire close enough to diamond that the two were confused for centuries, and in the early 1900s it was used widely as a diamond simulant, a role later taken by more convincing look-alikes. That history is why the name still says imitation to some buyers. Zircon from Australia holds a different record: at 4.4 billion years, it is the oldest known mineral on earth. Our strands are cut in Jaipur, India, and chosen strand by strand in Cupertino, California.

What tradition says

In the Middle Ages, zircon was thought to bring on sound sleep, to drive away evil spirits, and to promote riches, honor and wisdom. Some held that it reduced temptation and sharpened the mind. Crystal writers today call it a Stone of Virtue and describe it as grounding, and the old association with prosperity and untroubled rest still follows it. Zircon is a birthstone for December, sharing the month with turquoise and tanzanite, which is how many people first come to ask for it by name. All of this is belief and tradition rather than fact, and we pass it along in that spirit.

These are beliefs people have held about the stone, told as tradition. They are not claims, and not advice.

How makers use it

Faceted rondelles at 3mm are the ones makers reach for most, strung plain on a fine chain or knotted for a short necklace, catching light at every turn of the head. Pear briolettes make quick earrings. Smooth ovals read calmer, with less flash per bead. Warm brown against gold is the pairing we see most often. Plan for weight: figure about 26 carats per 8 inches at 3mm, and 48 at 4mm. We stock rondelles from 3 to 4mm, plus briolettes and ovals, in brown and multi, by the 8 inch and the 16 inch.

Looking after it

Zircon runs 6 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale and its facet edges are brittle, so it makes a poor bracelet stone. Keep it in necklaces and earrings, where it takes fewer knocks. Wash with warm soapy water and a soft brush, then dry it. Never an ultrasonic.

Sources: Zircon History and Lore - GIA, What Is Zircon Gemstone | Zircon Stone – GIA, Zircon: Gemstone, December Birthstone, Ore of Zirconium., Zircon History and Lore