The mineral moissanite derives its name from Nobel Prize winner Dr. Ferdinand Henri Moissan, who discovered traces of it in a meteorite at Diablo Canyon it in 1893. What makes this substance so special is that it is almost as hard as diamond. On the Mohs Scale, which measures the hardness of minerals (www.amfed.org/t_mohs.htm) it scores a 9.25 compared to the "perfect 10" of diamond.

There was an initial furor on the jewelry market when moissanite first surfaced. Would it compete with diamond as the world