Moissanite diamonds are taking the gem world by storm. Diamond specialists pride themselves on offering the best to their customers, selling diamonds that shine brilliantly and beautifully, not only because of the professional reputation they have worked so hard to foster, but also because they respect and admire the medium with which they work.

So it might come as something of a surprise that many professional gemmologists are now selling simulated diamonds alongside the 'real thing'. Have they somehow compromised their principles? Or is it just that moissanite diamonds are simply that beautiful?

Simulated diamonds have long been held in disfavor, because of the assumption that simulation necessarily implies inferiority. This has caused moissanite diamonds to be greeted sceptically, and with no lack of foundation. Previously produced simulated diamonds have included such alternatives as cut glass, rhinestone and cubic zirconium, which might lay claim to a certain attractiveness in their own right, but in no way approaching the sublime beauty of a real diamond.

But the development of moissanite diamonds has shaken this old foundation to the core. Those who have yet to be awed by the physical presence of moissanite diamonds dismiss them prematurely as being manmade, unlike real diamonds, which Mother Earth has brewed in her belly for millennia. But this harsh dismissal is to ignore the many wonders that man has created throughout his evolution, from art and poetry to the scientific wonders that can save lives.

Many of man's finest creations have been born in the lab, and moissanite diamonds are no exception. Even professional gemmologists have been able to distinguish them from real diamonds, and many of those who have deem their brilliance and fire superior to that of a real diamond.

Simulated diamonds were previously only the domain of those who were unable to afford the real thing, but now moissanite diamonds can offer, and even surpass, the beauty of a real diamond at a far lower price. Even the experts are impressed - and you will be too.

Moissanite diamonds offer the beauty and fire of diamonds, but without the price tag.