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Baking CZ and Moissanite

FutureChocolateMLK

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Spinoff from another thread. Anyone that has baked CZ or Moissanite, share your experience here!

I’ve never baked Moissanite, so I can’t speak to that, but I’ve done a couple CZ rings. The method I use is this:

Clean the rings really well, INCLUDING FINGERPRINTS! They can bake into the surface of the CZ. Put the ring in a glass baking dish in a COLD oven. Turn it to 400 degrees and bake however long you prefer. I’ve done anywhere from an hour to 2.5 hours. My three stone I've done 2 rounds, and couldn’t tell much difference between them. It’s also a high quality Swarovski, so results with a less expensive stone may vary. When the bake is over, leave the ring in the oven to cool. If you take it out immediately it could crack. It’s that simple!

I got the Swarovski CZ three stone off Etsy (the seller didn’t know what the stones were but I researched it because they appeared to be such high quality.) I don’t love the icy blue of CZ, so I tried baking. 400 degrees for about 2-2.5 hours, and I’ve done 2 rounds. More than anything it has more depth. I initially thought it was warmer, but it still has the icy blue look. I have a “warmer” (H-J) Chris CZ and the Swarovski cut is superior. I’ll probably bake the loose Chris CZ to see how it changes and post my results here. I prefer warmer stones and Swarovski only comes in D so that’s the only downfall in my book.

Swarovski is sold loose from Chris CZ, or you can buy set pieces off Amazon, Berricle offers a few pieces, and eBay is always a good resource.

I took most of my pics in my daughters bathroom so it was a controlled lighting environment. No windows and the doors were closed. Keep in mind it’s a very warm/tan room. Cabinets are a cream color, countertops are brown tones, and the walls are tan. Even the lighting is warm as opposed to natural or cool. I’ll include pics in my car so you can see how it appears in natural daylight too, I just wanted to see the differences in pre vs post bake and wanted it to be consistent lighting.

I have a super cheap (like $5) radiant CZ halo too that I baked, so I’ll show those too. Lots of pics to follow so bear with me! :lol:
 

FutureChocolateMLK

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I can only upload 10 pics at a time, so I’ll break up the posts. These are both rings, pre bake. I only had one of the radiant in this batch.

Seriously, it’s gonna be a lot of pics. Lol

E2358616-E2DB-4520-B9C2-CBD680DD60B3.jpeg 12811B5C-23B4-40D5-8DF6-D96C566098E5.jpeg 6014E014-DCB6-4B12-BA80-2100BC542EA6.jpeg 066EB2CB-28EC-49F6-9A6E-1B4598D8DF8A.jpeg 16100B41-0B2B-465C-AE87-AD0FDE5AD094.jpeg 8110935B-0162-4A83-B81F-4C81A43AEB75.jpeg E8FCB461-93D4-45AE-A5A4-975538514C42.jpeg
 

FutureChocolateMLK

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These are after the first bake on the three stone only. Radiant is still original. The ones in my car were taken on a gloomy day.
D6D9198E-07CD-469A-ACD1-572915727835.jpeg 5DEEF202-E8B5-45C3-9DB3-327ADB5129F3.jpeg 7ACCF362-932E-4EB9-AB18-0AEF831A83FC.jpeg 2C9AF481-A917-498C-B704-E6BB22DC5DDE.jpeg D45F1E6C-EADB-4F21-A6A0-D4F1B24E5210.jpeg
 

FutureChocolateMLK

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This is after baking the Radiant for an hour.
97C860FE-4793-42DE-868E-A44B221D86B1.jpeg 0682BC6F-2C32-4051-B2A7-E2D60DC441B5.jpeg E708F9B3-DF0A-4082-B1CC-51CC6959BDF7.jpeg C6ACDA60-5A17-40E1-97C8-A5E99E3E3EF8.jpeg
 

FutureChocolateMLK

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Second radiant bake. I couldn’t tell much of a difference. I’d say this one was 2 hours.
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sd_flp

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OMG, I love that radiant!!! Looks amazing!!! :love:
 

FutureChocolateMLK

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This is the second three stone bake after about 2-2.5 additional hours.
AC779BC9-03F3-4FEA-903D-609CB02B2F30.jpeg
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FutureChocolateMLK

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And lastly (for now) this is the three stone after two rounds of baking, next to a brand new never baked larger three stone. Both are Swarovski. Can you see a difference? I can barely, but not much.

I plan on baking the loose Chris CZ tonight so I’ll be sure to post my findings. This science experiment stuff is fun!
202D555C-1B0B-4442-AF1B-02CBFD6609CF.jpeg C45729F8-FD72-4577-A0A7-42475FCCEE2D.jpeg E0FFA11E-37D3-4AAF-90A0-C5B2355329FB.jpeg 55CD23EB-7C6A-4F3D-8F8A-77D727948EFD.jpeg 9A254F63-445F-464F-A113-2F6D042FCD8A.jpeg 6BBD0D1C-BB22-4C60-8666-CB16ED1C8B95.jpeg 394DE452-5206-43D0-A790-775F812FE9EC.jpeg
 

FutureChocolateMLK

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OMG, I love that radiant!!! Looks amazing!!! :love:

So funny, because that’s seriously the cheapest, junkiest CZ Ring ever. That’s why I threw it in to see what would happen. It was literally $5 on eBay so I could see if I liked the size. I think the baking made the biggest difference in it, probably because the quality was subpar to begin with.

Can’t wait to see everyone else’s results!
 

sd_flp

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Between the 3 stone rings, yeah, I can barely see the difference, although I think they both look nice. Probably has to do with the quality of the CZ like you said.

I did see some CZ jewelry at Nordstrom Rack last weekend and was tempted to buy some, but I held off. Looking at these pics, I'm motivated to try this. :lol:
 

FutureChocolateMLK

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Between the 3 stone rings, yeah, I can barely see the difference, although I think they both look nice. Probably has to do with the quality of the CZ like you said.

I did see some CZ jewelry at Nordstrom Rack last weekend and was tempted to buy some, but I held off. Looking at these pics, I'm motivated to try this. :lol:

Do it! It’s fun. And your family will look at you like you’re insane. Win win! :lol:

Side note: Do NOT bake rose gold plated anything! It will discolor and basically be yellow gold once it’s cleaned afterward. I don’t know about yellow gold plated, but I’d stick with white gold/silver/platinum unless it’s a disposable piece or you’re just curious to see what happens, because science! :twisted2:
 

FutureChocolateMLK

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Ok, I have two 7.5mm H&A Chris CZs in “warmer” which is H-J. I also have two 8mm RB CZs that are lesser quality, and I have no idea where they came from. :lol:

Here’s a video too:

https://imgur.com/a/Gqd5dyI

One of each loose stone is in the oven right now! Will update after they cool.
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AdaBeta27

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I didn't recall anyone running the temp up that high, but once I went back and read old threads, I see that some used 475F, and some even used intervals in a butane lighter flame on czs. The important thing seems to heat up gradually, and especially cool down gradually. If you Google cook bake czs talk.jewelry, you will find links to another forum with some old threads from 2009-2012 or so.

I'd avoid doing any cooking of Moissanite. I believe it was recutting round Moissanite to OEC, but exposing Moissanite to cutting wheel heat and whatever made it turn green or greenish brown. It darkened, is what I remember. If you have murky Moissanite, the best solution is to set it in yellow gold, which either compliments the murky or shifts it a little more buttery.
 

FutureChocolateMLK

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Ok, they’re cooled! The ones I baked (if you can’t tell) are the ones closest to my fingertips in all the pics.

And here’s a video:

https://imgur.com/a/9oSyyiL

What say you PSers? Is there a noticeable difference or have I lost my mind? :lol-2:
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FutureChocolateMLK

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Side note: I forgot they were in the oven and they baked for 3 hours. Oops!
 

sd_flp

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Oh, cool! It’s subtle, but I definitely see that the baked ones have more clarity than the non baked ones! They definitely look like they have more depth. :love: Great job!
 

FutureChocolateMLK

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Oh, cool! It’s subtle, but I definitely see that the baked ones have more clarity than the non baked ones! They definitely look like they have more depth. :love: Great job!

I think so too! Not warmer, but deeper. I’m pretty happy with them.

Someone else needs to try it so we can see the results! :lol:
 

bludiva

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I baked this halo before putting the center stone in. Honestly the difference is subtle but I'm happy with it. I was just going to use this as a temp setting but now I don't really want to take it out...

Vendor image (sorry i dont have a before pic)
s-l400.jpg

After baking and setting. It's not clear from the photos but the czs look just like your typical mid quality white diamond melee (white, shiny, pretty sparkly) to me now, whereas before they looked a bit more flat.

20190111_140516.jpg

I think they get warmer eventually but I lost patience. I think I did 2 hours at 350, put the empty setting in a baking dish full of water and let it heat up and cool down with the oven
 

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FutureChocolateMLK

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I baked this halo before putting the center stone in. Honestly the difference is subtle but I'm happy with it. I was just going to use this as a temp setting but now I don't really want to take it out...

Vendor image (sorry i dont have a before pic)
s-l400.jpg

After baking and setting. It's not clear from the photos but the czs look just like your typical mid quality white diamond melee (white, shiny, pretty sparkly) to me now, whereas before they looked a bit more flat.

20190111_140516.jpg

I think they get warmer eventually but I lost patience. I think I did 2 hours at 350, put the empty setting in a baking dish full of water and let it heat up and cool down with the oven

I agree the difference is subtle but different. I was happy with my results too. I’ve heard about people putting water in the baking dish, but I did all my “experiments” dry. Lol

Beautiful ring!
 

bludiva

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I agree the difference is subtle but different. I was happy with my results too. I’ve heard about people putting water in the baking dish, but I did all my “experiments” dry. Lol

Beautiful ring!

I read it works either way but I thought the water might be better due to the metal in this case. I'm going to try it again next time I have some czs available!

Thank you!
 

sd_flp

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Bumping...I’d like to see more experiments! =)2

I was actually going to try this since I bought a CZ eternity ring; however, I just received it in the mail today and the stones are too small. :oops:
 

BMI

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I have baked eternity rings from Berricle with really small stones and there was a noticeable difference IMO. Sorry I no longer have the pictures as this was done over five years ago. The rounds were probably 1.5-2 mm and I think they have more depth and look more like diamonds after baking. The marquis shape stones (which were only so-so to begin with) went dark and flat, so I do not recommend baking them.
 

sd_flp

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I have baked eternity rings from Berricle with really small stones and there was a noticeable difference IMO. Sorry I no longer have the pictures as this was done over five years ago. The rounds were probably 1.5-2 mm and I think they have more depth and look more like diamonds after baking. The marquis shape stones (which were only so-so to begin with) went dark and flat, so I do not recommend baking them.
Interesting...I am not sure it will work in my case but I’ll think about it when I get back on vacation. The stones I have are extremely tiny, although I believe they’re close to the 1mm range. I’ve attached a pic. I actually love it, but I thought the ring would be much larger for me to try. :???:

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MamaBee

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Did anyone try baking moissanite? I forgot about it..I’m willing to bake my Diamondrensu princess cut earrings. I don’t wear them. They look so gray to me..What temperature and for how long should I bake them?
 

bludiva

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I ordered this cluster ring during a berricle sale and maybe they got the memo about baking czs bc the center has a touch of color (I'd guess g/h) compared to the outer stones. I was surprised at how realistic it looks. I'll try to get some better photos of it and some items I am returning to compare cz quality if anyone is interested.



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sd_flp

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@Mamabean you’ll be the first! But I think another poster said heat may turn them brown. I think if you were to try it you may want to do it at the lowest heat setting possible and half the bake time?

@bludiva I’d be interested in seeing! =)2
 

MamaBee

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@Mamabean you’ll be the first! But I think another poster said heat may turn them brown. I think if you were to try it you may want to do it at the lowest heat setting possible and half the bake time?

@bludiva I’d be interested in seeing! =)2
Ok..Thanks..I’ll give it a try!
 
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