Charles & Colvard

Charles & Colvard did not just start selling moissanite: it is the company that put the stone in a jewelry box in the first place. Founded in 1995 in North Carolina's Research Triangle Park under the name C3 Inc., it took the Charles & Colvard name in 1999 and still holds the original US patent, 5,723,391, for turning silicon carbide crystals into a cut gemstone. Every other moissanite seller online is working in a market this company created, not the other way round, and that is worth knowing before you compare stones on price alone. It now sells under two of its own brand names, Forever One for moissanite and Caydia for lab-grown diamonds, and its shipping page names Switzerland directly among the countries it sends orders to, alongside Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Poland, Spain, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

What you get

The catalogue spans 10 stone shapes (round, cushion, pear, marquise, princess, oval, radiant, emerald, asscher and heart) and 7 ring styles, from a plain solitaire through a hidden halo, a three-stone setting, a toi et moi and a vintage-inspired design. A ring can be built around a moissanite centre stone or a Caydia lab-grown diamond, so someone who specifically wants moissanite, with the fire and brilliance the company's own site describes as rivalling a diamond's, gets it as a first-class product rather than a side option at a jeweller that mainly sells something else. Above the standard ranges sits a Signature Collection, and men's rings, wedding bands and fine jewelry (earrings, necklaces, bracelets) sit in the same storefront, so a full bridal order, his and hers included, can go through one checkout.

What stands out

Two things separate this from a typical online jeweller. First, the patent history: a buyer who cares whether they are getting moissanite from the source, rather than from a company reselling someone else's stones, now has an answer with a patent number attached to it rather than a marketing claim. Second, the Virtual Bridal Ring Consultation, a 25-minute video call built around a style questionnaire you fill in first, after which a stylist presents a shortlist of rings on the call itself. For someone who has just moved to Zurich and has not yet worked out which jeweller to trust locally, or who would rather not spend a Saturday on Bahnhofstrasse, that is a genuine substitute for an in-person appointment, not a gimmick. Support runs through live chat, email at service@charlesandcolvard.com, and a phone line, 877-202-5467, published as staffed Monday through Friday from 9:00am to 6:00pm ET.

How it's organised and how you pay

Pricing throughout the site is in US dollars. There is no CHF switch and no separate Swiss storefront, so a Zurich buyer's card converts the total the same way it would for any US purchase. Checkout accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover and PayPal. Two financing options are advertised on the payment page, Affirm and Afterpay, and both say plainly that they are US-only: Affirm's own terms read "US customers only and may not be available in every state," and Afterpay is described as "only available for checkouts in USA markets at this time," so neither is something a Swiss cardholder can actually select at checkout even though the ring itself ships. Checks, money orders, cash and splitting one order across multiple cards are not accepted.

Shipping and duty to Switzerland

The free-shipping page states plainly that Switzerland is one of the countries the company ships to, not a country you have to guess about from a generic "worldwide" line. In-stock pieces ordered by 2pm ET go out the same business day, and standard shipping within the US is free on a 4-7 business day timeline, though the page does not restate that exact window for an international delivery, so treat the domestic figure as a benchmark rather than a promise for a Zurich address. A made-to-order piece, which covers most rings once you choose a size or setting combination, needs 15 business days in the workshop before transit even starts. On duty, the site is honest but not specific: "additional charges for duties, taxes, or fees charged by the destination country or local customs office are the responsibility of the customer and must be fulfilled by the recipient at the time the package is received." No CHF estimate, flat handling fee or percentage is published anywhere on the site, so budget for a customs bill that arrives with the shipment rather than one quoted up front. One concrete number is published: any order totaling more than $1,500 before shipping, duties and taxes requires a signature on delivery, which is the range most engagement ring orders will fall into anyway.

Returns and warranty

Returns run for 30 days from the day your item ships, and the item has to come back "in complete, unused, and original condition," with its original packaging, warranty card and proof of purchase, and no signs of wear. Return shipping is the customer's own cost, and a refund posts to the original payment method in approximately 7-10 business days once the return is received; the original shipping charge is not refunded. International returns go through email first, to service@charlesandcolvard.com with the order number, SKU and reason, rather than a self-service portal, and the same customs rules apply going back as going out. On warranty, moissanite gemstones of 4mm or larger carry a lifetime guarantee on their brilliance, fire and physical integrity, while the setting itself, the metal, prongs and mounting, is covered for 12 months from the purchase date. A claim goes through a dedicated line, 1-800-210-GEMS, with your receipt and warranty card, and any third-party repair or alteration voids the promise. The warranty page separately lists a Chinese-language contact for Asian customers, which shows the company does regionalise warranty administration somewhere, but no equivalent Swiss or European contact is published, so a claim from Zurich would go through the same US channel as everyone else.

Worth knowing before you order

Charles & Colvard filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2026, and in a court-approved sale its assets were bought for $2,700,000 by AJS Creations, which also owns the lab-grown jewelry retailers Grown Brilliance and Clean Origin. AJS Creations has said it plans to run Charles & Colvard "as a standalone brand," and the site a buyer would actually order from today is fully live, with the same catalogue, chat and appointment booking working as normal, which reads as a change of ownership rather than a business winding down. Neither company has published anything yet about how existing lifetime warranty claims will be handled going forward, so if you order now, keep your receipt and warranty card somewhere safe rather than assuming the paperwork will sort itself out later. Trustpilot shows a low score for the site, 1.8 out of 5, though from a small sample of 22 reviews, not enough on its own to draw a firm conclusion either way.

Who it suits

This suits a buyer who wants moissanite specifically, and wants it from the company that put the stone on the market rather than from a generic retailer that lists it as one option among many. It suits someone comfortable ordering in English, paying in US dollars and accepting an unquoted customs bill on arrival, in exchange for a wider shape and style range than most single-country competitors carry. The virtual consultation makes it a reasonable choice for someone who has just arrived in Zurich and has not yet found a local jeweller. It suits it less if a firm CHF price with duty already folded in matters more than selection, or if a Swiss address for resizing and repairs matters more than a US one.

The verdict

For the actual moissanite story, for a genuinely wide catalogue of shapes and styles rather than a handful of bestsellers dressed up as a range, and for a virtual consultation that works for someone who cannot easily walk into a showroom, Charles & Colvard earns its place here. The published 30-day return window and the lifetime stone warranty are real, specific commitments rather than marketing lines, and the shipping page confirms Switzerland in writing rather than leaving it to a support ticket to find out. This year's change of ownership is worth knowing about, not a reason to skip the site: the storefront works, the policies above are the ones actually posted, and the company that invented this whole category of gemstone is still the one selling it.