I baked My Cubic Zirconia Rings and This is What Happened:
Disclaimer: I am not advising anyone to try this at home. This is what I did to my rings. I am not responsible for what you do to yours.
I have a real and beautiful wedding set that I love. I haven’t given a lot of thought to an upgrade because I love my set and I prefer to spend money on home renovations.
Recent insomnia led me to a late-night scroll through a popular television jewelry site. My tired eyes opened a bit wider to a beautiful anniversary wedding set. Hmmm… very pretty. Only it was eight carats of fake diamond gorgeousness, which is normally not my thing. My eyelids began to feel heavier and I left the website but not before leaving my email address. The next day the set found its way to my inbox. I went back to the website and five days later, the set followed me home.
I was almost giddy as I slipped the Cubic Zirconia (CZ) rings on my finger. The clear, flawless stones gleamed and glistened. It was a larger and more perfect version of my real set.
I mischievously kept handing my husband things as he watched football, to see if he would notice the ice rink on my finger. On a commercial, he asked if they were real and where did I get them. I fessed up that they were fake and for fun. With visible relief he declared the set pretty and went back to the game. I left him alone. The next day, I wore it publicly. The perfect brilliance, clarity and rainbow of color was almost too perfect. I began to feel like a kid with a gum ball ring. I considered sending it back.
If it’s for fun why not keep it? When in doubt, ask the internet for help (kidding. kind of). I searched “how to make a CZ look better.” I wasn’t sure what I was looking for, but I knew some hack would be out there. Sure enough articles and videos popped up about baking CZ so it will look more “real.” Baking CZ? What?
I learned there are folks baking their costume jewelry in their ovens to give it a less clear glass finish. I watched several videos and confirmed metal and CZ melting points. What’s the worse that can happen? My fake rings will be ruined? They were cheap compared to the real thing, but they weren’t free. What the heck. I texted my family to not go near the oven and I began the process of baking my brand new CZ rings. Here is what I did:
- I polished the stones on my shirt, so as not to bake in fingerprints.
- I placed the rings in a glass dish, making sure they were not touching.
- I did not preheat the oven. I placed the glass dish in the cold oven.
- I turned the oven on to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
According to the internet, you can bake CZ up to 3 hours. I was only dipping my toes into the craziness of baking jewelry.
- I set the timer on my oven for one hour and 25 minutes.
After the rings were in the oven, I was tempted to stop at 15 minutes, but I could see the rings still shining and glowing through the glass oven door. After a few peeks, I busied myself with laundry.
According to the CZ bakers of the internet, I was to not open the door during the process, and I had to let the rings cool in the oven.
- I let mine cool for approximately 2.5 hours before taking them out.
- I cupped the rings in the palm of my hand, so as not to have a sudden temperature change that could possibly crack the stones.
- I inspected the rings and everything was intact.
The results:
Photo by wu yi on Unsplash
The rings were even more sparkly, fresh from the oven. The stones glowed like Swarovski crystals. That wasn’t exactly my goal, but there was a tiny dark speck in the center stone. It looked like an inclusion, which are the small imperfections found in a real diamond. I put the rings on the next day. They seemed a bit more subdued and sparkled more like my real set after a good cleaning. According to the internet CZ bakers, I could repeat the process for more “warmth.” I decided to just leave it be.
Soon enough after the novelty wears off, my eight carats of CZ beauty will be tucked away. Meanwhile, I can use a little extra sparkle and fun without baking.
