Zircon
The oldest mineral on Earth, and the brightest natural stone after diamond.
- Family
- Zircon
- Formula
- ZrSiO₄
- Mohs
- 6 to 7.5
- System
- Tetragonal
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Science
Zircon is so durable it survives the erosion and remelting of the rocks it forms in, which is why crystals from Jack Hills, Australia are 4.4 billion years old. Its uranium content makes it the clock of geochronology and, over time, damages its own lattice into 'low' zircon. Blue zircon is brown Cambodian rough that has been heated.
- Mineral
- Zircon
- Formula
- ZrSiO₄
- Crystal system
- Tetragonal
- Mohs hardness
- 6 to 7.5
- Specific gravity
- 4.60 to 4.70
- Refractive index
- 1.925 to 1.984
- Lustre
- Adamantine
- Colours
- Blue, Colourless, Brown, Red, Yellow
- Birthstone
- December
Composition
ZrSiO₄. Made of Zirconium, Silicon, Oxygen, with trace Hafnium, Uranium, Thorium responsible for colour.
Origin
- CambodiaRatanakiri, blue
- Sri Lanka
- Myanmar
- Tanzania
- AustraliaJack Hills, oldest crystals
- Thailand
Filled dots are primary sources
Rarity
Common as a mineral; gem zircon is moderately available. Its price suffers from confusion with cubic zirconia.
- 1 Abundant
- 2 Common
- 3 Uncommon
- 4 Rare
- 5 Exceptional
Hardness
Zircon sits at 6 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale. It will scratch glass and holds a polish in daily wear.
Energy
Associations from crystal-healing tradition, recorded here as folklore. They are not medical claims.
Chakras
- Root
- Crown
Element
- Earth
Zodiac
- Sagittarius
- Virgo
Planets
- Jupiter
Properties
- Grounding
- Wisdom
- Prosperity
- Honesty
Lore
Zircon appears as jacinth and hyacinth in Roman and medieval texts. In India it is one of the nine gems of the navaratna, standing for the descending lunar node.
Its reputation was damaged when cubic zirconia, an unrelated synthetic, borrowed the name in the 1970s.
- Oldest4.404 billion years, Jack Hills, Western Australia.
- Not CZCubic zirconia is ZrO₂, a lab-made imitation of diamond.