Men's 10K mixed metal Freemason ring with moissanite crystal face. Marked 10K / GRAN on interior band.

Size: 1 x 1 1/4 in.

Ring Size: 11 1/2.

Weight: 6.1 dwt. & 9.6 g.

#1387

Freemasonry refers to fraternal organizations that trace their origins to the European guilds of stonemasons that regulated their qualifications and interaction with authorities and clients from the 14th Century onward. Private Lodges (for a state, province, or other national border) are usually supervised at the regional level by a Grand Lodge. There is no international Grand Lodge that supervises all of Freemasonry, particularly since many modern Freemasons have discarded some of the original regulations, including disallowing women to join and policies regarding religion and politics. Symbology and numbers have played a vital role in the history of the Freemasons, with numerous nation-specific groups focusing on different numbers to delineate themselves. The mineral moissanite was discovered by the geologist Henri Moissan while examining rock samples from a meteor crater located in Canyon Diablo, Arizona, in 1893. At first, he mistakenly identified the crystals as diamonds, but in 1904 he identified the crystals as silicon carbide. Artificial silicon carbide had been synthesized in the lab by Edward G. Acheson in 1891, just two years before Moissan’s discovery. The mineral form of silicon carbide was named in honor of Moissan later on in his life. In its natural form, moissanite remains very rare. Until the 1950s, no other source for moissanite other than as presolar grains in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites had been encountered. A handful of discoveries in mines in Wyoming and Russia since then show that it occurs naturally (albeit extremely rarely) in diamonds, xenoliths, and such other ultramafic rock such as lamproite. All applications of silicon carbide today use synthetic material, as the natural material is very scarce, and its extraterrestrial origins make it extremely valuable.