Sparkle, Neely, sparkle: This is the 2011 BBJ Holiday Gift Guide. For more gift-worthy items for everyone on your list, check out my other offerings.

Moissanite studs

I own about ten pairs of “diamond” studs and two pairs of diamond studs. I keep them all in a little dish in my bathroom from the newly renovated Fresh store in Union Square. It’s an earring bar, if you will. I have long felt that I look like I’m playing dress up when I wear ANYTHING larger than a stud earring, so I wear different iterations every day and some of my diamonds–are just not real. I can’t be laying out for dozens of diamonds, you know? But when I go faux, I make sure they’re quality–white gold posts, great design, etc.

Credit: cracked.com

So when I was contacted by Charles & Colvard, the sole manufacturers of created moissanite, I was pretty jazzed to eshew my usual CV. Moissanite  sparkles more than diamond, will last forever, is flawless, AND is a fraction of the cost of diamond. The quality is insane–their hardness is actually second only to diamonds. Charles & Covard was generous enough to send a pair with a total weight of 1.0 carats, valued at $249 to test out and I’m officially obsessed. I wear my “diamonds” far more often than my diamonds. It’s all very Claire Standish of The Breakfast Club fame.

The mineral silicon carbide for Moissanite was discovered by and named for Dr. Henri Moissan, a French Nobel Prize recipient in Chemistry. Silicon carbide is very rare in its natural form and is too scarce in nature to be mined. But Charles & Colvard, Ltd., owns a patented process for creating the jewel in a way that recreates the characteristics of the original mineral, duplicating its toughness, durability, fire and brilliance. Moissanite stones are considerably cheaper to produce, as they do not have to be mined from the earth.

Perhaps Claire should have shared a pair of Moissanite with Bender in that pivotal final scene of The Breakfast Club? I feel like I’ve been waiting for a pair of super sparkly earrings that are luxe yet affordable almost as long as I’ve been waiting for Bender to finish that joke he tells in the movie when the ceiling gives out as he’s about to tell the punchline.

Don’t you forget about Moissanite when it comes to holiday gifting. They’re perfect for teens! Buy a pair at moissanite.com.

Disclosure: A pair of earrings was sent by Charles & Colvard for editorial consideration.