Strontium Titanate / "Fabulite"?

[Jujeh]

I'm crazy for fire / dispersion. It's the main thing I like about diamonds/moissanite/cz.

I've recently found out that there's a material called "strontium titanate" that has much more fire than any of those.

However, it's only about a 5.5 on the Mohs scale.

I want to buy a pendant, but I've never had a faceted gemstone so soft before. I've heard that materials with mohs hardness under 7 will get abraded by dust no matter what you do and the gem will inevitably cloud. It's not terribly expensive so I think it's worth the gamble for me.

Does anyone have experience with this? Any other thoughts on this material? Thanks!

 

[OoohShiny]

I can't believe something halfway down the mohs scale would get abraded by dust!

Well, unless you're living in a slate mine or something similar... lol

A pendant should see very little wear IMO - hanging round your neck it's at a lot less risk of getting battered on things than a ring would be

 

[Jujeh]

@OoohShiny

Thanks very much. That claim seemed a bit suspect to me too but I just don't come in contact with Mohs under 7 very often.

Hopefully it stays shiny for a while.

 

[OoohShiny]

@OoohShiny

Thanks very much. That claim seemed a bit suspect to me too but I just don't come in contact with Mohs under 7 very often.

Hopefully it stays shiny for a while.

I am no expert but I would be interested to hear how it goes - please do report back!

 

[deorwine]

The problem is that a lot of the "grit" in dust is quartz... which is Mohs 7. So yes, if your jewelry gets dust on it, that dust will scratch a stone which is softer than Mohs 7. If you're careful, wear it relatively rarely as a pendant, don't leave it out at all, and don't get dust on it, you might be OK for a while.

Definitely don't wear it to the beach!

 

[OoohShiny]

The problem is that a lot of the "grit" in dust is quartz... which is Mohs 7. So yes, if your jewelry gets dust on it, that dust will scratch a stone which is softer than Mohs 7. If you're careful, wear it relatively rarely as a pendant, don't leave it out at all, and don't get dust on it, you might be OK for a while.

Definitely don't wear it to the beach!

Even in your house, where most of the dust will be from fabrics? (And your dead skin? lol)

 

[deorwine]

Ha, it's true... inside dust might be less prone to this. Especially if you live in a place where you don't open your windows a lot! (We have our windows open practically all the time, so the majority of the dust in our house blows in from outside!)

 

[Jujeh]

Hmm, that's a good point. On the other hand, I looked it up and glass is about 5.5 as well. There is a lot of old glass out there that isn't cloudy from being scratched by dust.

Ah well, I guess we'll just have to see. I don't wear any jewelry in harsh conditions anyway so hopefully it will be fine for quite a while.

 

[chroman]

If you like dispersion, check out synthetic rutile too!

 

[Jujeh]

So I got my pendant in the mail.

It's really cool. You know how diamonds/cz/moissanite have certain lighting conditions where there is no fire? That does not seem to be the case with this stone. It has fire all the time.

My particular stone definitely is noticeably yellow, maybe like an L colored diamond. But that's fine.

I got an oval cut and there's a heinous bowtie. So look out for that.

Overall though, it definitely delivers what I want it to. Hopefully I can enjoy it for many years to come but even if it does eventually get scratched to pieces, I would rebuy.