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The History of Cubic Zirconia
Since 1892 the yellowish, monoclinic mineral baddeleyite had been the only natural form of zirconium oxide known. Being of rare occurrence, it had little economic importance.
Seven years later, German mineralogists M. V. Stackelberg and K. Chudoba discovered naturally occurring cubic zirconia in the form of microscopic grains included in metamict zircon.
Some of the earliest research into controlled single-crystal growth of cubic zirconia occurred in 1960s France, much work being done by Y. Roulin and R. Collongues.
Later, Soviet scientists under V. Osiko at the Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow perfected the technique. Their breakthrough was published in 1973, and commercial production of cubic zirconia began in 1976. By 1980 annual global production had reached 50 million carats (10,000 kg).
