With twice the shine: how a spinoff of Cree turns a crystal grown in a lab to make microprocessor wafers into gems that outsparkle diamonds.

• Author: Martin, Edward
• Position: PICTURE THIS

The mineral that French chemist Henri Moissan discovered in an Arizona meteor crater in 1904 and now bears his name is second only to diamonds in hardness, but it is twice as sparkly. And, in its natural form, far more scarce. "People think how precious and rare diamonds are," says Lee Miller, e-commerce director of Morrisville-based Charles & Colvard Ltd. "The rarity of silicon carbide makes diamonds look as common as ants."

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Mining it is out of the question, but Durham-based Cree Inc. grows the mineral in a lab for its semiconductor wafers. "The only difference between lab-grown moissanite and natural silicon carbide is, you couldn't find enough natural silicon carbide on Earth to create a piece of jewelry." In 1995, Cree spun off C3 Inc. to turn man-made moissanite into jewels. It became a publicly traded company in 1997 and changed its name to Charles & Colvard--for two of the company's founders--in 1999. It remains the sole manufacturer of moissanite gems. Cree ships hockey-puck-shaped boules--single-crystal ingots--of moissanite to Charles & Colvard, where in a 16,000-square-foot manufacturing and distribution complex, 26 employees cut, polish, sort, grade and ship stones. It's dazzling duty.

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"Silicon carbide is a double refractor," Miller says. "With diamond, light beams come in--one in, one out. With moissanite, it's one in, two out. The light breaks differently, which gives it a unique brilliance and fire." The jewel...