Hardness:
7.5.

Occurrence:
Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Vietnam, Kampuchea, Australia, Brazil, Nigeria, Tanzania and France.

Appearance:
Zircon, a naturally occurring gemstone, has colorless, yellow, orange, red, blue, brown and green varieties. Zircon, by it's name, is sometimes confused with cubic zirconia ("CZ"), which is synthetic. In addition, both have been used as diamond substitutes. Zircon has a high refractive index which is responsible for it's diamond like appearance. Zircon can be distinguished from diamond by it's double refraction and by wear and tear of it's edges, as compared to diamond which is very much harder.

Something Extra:
Zircon's name comes from the Arabic zargoon, meaning vermilion. Zircon was worn by the ancients as amulets protecting travelers against the plague, wound and injuries. It proportedly guarded sailors from lightning and expelled evil spirits through its brightness.

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,"
although zircon comes in a wide range of different colors.

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 which looks more like diamond than any other natural stone due to its brilliance and
dispersion.

The following are different of Zircon:
-    Blue Zircon
-    Bronze Zircon
-    Golden Zircon
-    Green Zircon