Affiliate disclosure and scope
We earn a commission if you buy through the links on this page. This review nonetheless leads with a corporate development the brand’s own website does not mention, because anyone spending several hundred dollars on jewellery marketed with a lifetime guarantee ought to know it.
All details checked 8 August 2026. Court and filing information is from published reporting of the company’s SEC disclosures. This is not legal or financial advice.
Read This First: Chapter 11 and an Asset Sale
- 3 March 2026 — Charles & Colvard filed a voluntary Chapter 11 petition in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
- 22 June 2026 — at auction, AJS Creations, Inc. was selected as successful bidder for specified business assets at $2,700,000 in cash, superseding a $1,500,000 stalking-horse bid from Van Lang Jewelry LLC.
- 25 June 2026 — the Bankruptcy Court approved the AJS purchase agreement, with closing required by 7 July 2026.
Meanwhile the website is trading entirely normally. We checked it: an operational cart, active shop-now calls to action for engagement rings and wedding bands, free shipping and returns in the footer, and jewellery described as “backed by a lifetime warranty”. There is no notice of any of the above anywhere on the page.
Some important fairness before anyone panics. Chapter 11 is a restructuring, not a liquidation. The company filed customary first-day motions to keep paying employees, key vendors and essential obligations precisely so it could continue operating normally, and it did. A sale of assets to a buyer commonly means the brand continues under new ownership rather than disappearing. Businesses go through this process and come out the other side routinely.
So this is not a warning that your order will not arrive. It is a warning about one specific thing, and it is the next section.
What That Means for the Lifetime Warranty
Charles & Colvard has long promoted a Limited Lifetime Warranty stating that every Charles & Colvard Created Moissanite will maintain its fire and brilliance throughout its lifetime. The site still advertises a lifetime warranty today.
A lifetime warranty is a promise that must outlive the buyer’s ring. It therefore needs a company to outlive it too.
Asset sales in bankruptcy frequently transfer assets free and clear of existing liabilities, which can mean pre-existing warranty obligations do not automatically pass to the purchaser. Whether AJS Creations assumed those obligations is something we could not determine, and we are not going to guess at it either way.
This matters more for jewellery than it would for most products. People buy engagement rings expecting permanence — that is close to the entire emotional proposition — and a lifetime guarantee is sold into exactly that expectation. A warranty you might need in 2041 depends on an entity existing in 2041 that considers itself bound by it.
Our practical position: treat the lifetime warranty as worth nothing unless you obtain written confirmation of who now stands behind it. Ask before ordering, in writing, and keep the reply. If the answer is unclear, price the purchase as though the warranty does not exist — and if it still looks like good value, buy it.
How It Got Here
The Chapter 11 filing was not sudden. The sequence, from published reporting of the company’s own disclosures:
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 17 May 2024 | One-for-ten reverse stock split, to address Nasdaq’s $1.00 minimum bid price requirement |
| April 2025 | Nasdaq determined to suspend and delist, for failure to timely file Forms 10-Q for the quarters ended 30 September and 31 December 2024. The company did not appeal |
| 25 April 2025 | Trading suspended; shares expected to move to the OTC Expert Market |
| 3 March 2026 | Chapter 11 petition filed |
| 22–25 June 2026 | Assets auctioned to AJS Creations for $2.7m; court approval 25 June |
The middle step is the one that stands out. A reverse split to maintain a listing is a common, recoverable manoeuvre. Being delisted for failing to file quarterly reports is a different order of problem — it indicates the company could not produce its financial statements on time, and choosing not to appeal suggests it did not expect to fix that quickly.
Why Moissanite Got Harder to Sell
Reporting of the company’s own court filings attributes its difficulties to falling lab-grown diamond prices making moissanite harder to sell. That explanation holds together, and it is genuinely useful for anyone shopping this category.
Moissanite’s proposition was never that it is better than diamond. It was that it looks comparable for dramatically less money. That proposition depends entirely on the size of the price gap — and as lab-grown diamond prices fell steeply, the gap narrowed. A buyer who once faced “moissanite or nothing” increasingly faced “moissanite or an actual diamond for somewhat more”, and many chose the diamond.
The product did not get worse. Its competitive position did. That is worth understanding before you buy, because it is also the reason the value calculation below has moved against moissanite compared with a few years ago — even though moissanite remains substantially cheaper.
The Stone Itself Is Genuinely Good
None of the above is a criticism of moissanite, and it would be unfair to let corporate news contaminate the gemstone. A ring you receive is a ring you own — no restructuring changes the stone in the setting.
| Property | Moissanite | Diamond |
|---|---|---|
| Mohs hardness | 9.25 | 10 |
| Refractive index | 2.65 – 2.69 | 2.42 |
| Fire (dispersion) | Over 4× other popular gemstones | Lower than moissanite |
9.25 on the Mohs scale is very hard. It is below diamond’s 10, but the scale is not linear and 9.25 is entirely appropriate for a ring worn daily for decades. This is not a soft stone that will scratch up — it is one of the hardest materials used in jewellery.
And on the optical properties, moissanite genuinely beats diamond: a higher refractive index means more brilliance, and dispersion over four times that of other popular gemstones means more coloured fire. That is not marketing spin; it is measurable physics.
The Tell: Why Moissanite Looks Different
Here is the point most buying guides fumble, and it is worth getting right before you spend.
Where moissanite is identifiable, it is usually because it outperforms diamond optically — not because it falls short. That very high dispersion produces pronounced rainbow flashes, most noticeable in larger stones and bright light. Some people find it more beautiful than diamond’s comparatively restrained sparkle. Others read it as a giveaway.
This turns the decision into a genuine preference rather than a compromise:
- If your priority is that nobody can tell, a lab-grown diamond is the more reliable choice, because it is chemically and optically a diamond.
- If you simply like a stone with enormous sparkle, moissanite is arguably the better one, and cheaper.
Look at both in person and in daylight before deciding. Photographs flatten the difference almost completely, and it is the single thing most likely to determine whether you are happy in five years.
Pricing Against Lab-Grown Diamond
| Size | Moissanite | Lab-grown diamond |
|---|---|---|
| 1 carat | ~$500 – $800 | ~$1,500 – $3,000 |
| 2 – 3 carat | ~$700 – $1,300 | ~$1,800 – $3,500+ |
Moissanite still costs roughly 70% to 90% less than a comparable lab-grown diamond, and the advantage widens at larger sizes — a three-carat moissanite remains achievable at a price where diamond of any origin is not. That is a real and substantial saving.
These are indicative market figures rather than Charles & Colvard prices, and the brand has historically positioned above generic moissanite sellers on the strength of its origination story, grading and — precisely — its warranty. Which is why the warranty question is not academic: if you are paying a brand premium substantially justified by a lifetime guarantee, and that guarantee is uncertain, you are paying for something you may not be getting.
How to Buy Sensibly If You Still Want To
- Ask in writing who now honours the lifetime warranty, and keep the reply. This is the single most important step.
- Price the purchase as if the warranty does not exist. If it still looks like good value against generic moissanite sellers, proceed.
- Pay by credit card. Card chargeback rights are a meaningful protection when the counterparty has been through an insolvency process, in a way debit or bank transfer is not.
- Check the current returns policy at checkout rather than relying on anything written before March 2026, including this page.
- Do not buy on a long lead time if you can avoid it — prefer in-stock items shipping promptly over custom orders with distant delivery dates.
- See moissanite and lab diamond in person before committing, in daylight.
Moissanite, Lab Diamond or Mined
| Moissanite | Lab-grown diamond | Mined diamond | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Lowest | Middle, and falling | Highest |
| Sparkle | Most fire | Diamond optics | Diamond optics |
| Hardness | 9.25 | 10 | 10 |
| Distinguishable? | Sometimes, by the extra fire | Not by eye | Not by eye |
The falling lab-grown diamond price is the development that should shape this decision. Moissanite remains far cheaper, and if budget is the binding constraint it is still the way to get a large, hard, spectacular stone for a few hundred dollars. But the case for paying a brand premium over generic moissanite is weaker than it was, because the premium was substantially about warranty and provenance — and one of those is now uncertain.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Moissanite is genuinely hard at 9.25 Mohs — fine for daily wear
- Higher refractive index than diamond, so more brilliant
- Fire over four times that of other popular gemstones
- Roughly 70–90% cheaper than comparable lab-grown diamond
- The saving widens at larger carat sizes
- The originator and best-known name in lab-created moissanite
- Website trading normally with free shipping and returns advertised
- Chapter 11 is a restructuring, and operations continued throughout
- A stone you receive is unaffected by any of the corporate news
Cons
- Chapter 11 filed 3 March 2026; assets auctioned in June 2026
- Whether the lifetime warranty transferred could not be established
- The website discloses none of this while advertising a lifetime warranty
- Delisted from Nasdaq in April 2025 after failing to file Forms 10-Q
- Required a 1-for-10 reverse split in May 2024 to hold its listing
- Falling lab-grown diamond prices have eroded moissanite’s core advantage
- The brand premium was substantially justified by the warranty
- Slightly softer than diamond at 9.25 versus 10
- The extra fire reads as a giveaway to some people
- Current return terms could not be verified
Who Should Buy, and Who Should Not
Buy if you want a large, hard, spectacularly sparkly stone for a few hundred dollars, you have seen moissanite in person and prefer its look, and you are prepared to treat the lifetime warranty as a bonus rather than part of what you are paying for. Pay by credit card, and get the warranty position in writing first.
Look elsewhere if the lifetime warranty is a material part of why you were choosing this brand over cheaper moissanite sellers. That is precisely the element we could not verify, and paying a premium for an uncertain guarantee is the one clearly bad outcome available here.
And consider a lab-grown diamond seriously if you can stretch the budget. Falling prices have narrowed the gap, the stone is optically indistinguishable from mined diamond, and it is harder. That shift is the very thing that reportedly put this company into difficulty — which makes it worth acting on.
Limitations of This Review
We have not bought or examined any Charles & Colvard product, so we cannot assess setting quality, stone cut, finishing or customer service. Photographs cannot convey the optical difference between moissanite and diamond, which is why we recommend seeing both in person.
Specific gaps, and the first is the significant one: we could not establish whether warranty obligations transferred in the asset sale, and our statement that bankruptcy sales often transfer assets free of liabilities is a general observation about such transactions, not a determination about this one. We did not read the court filings or purchase agreement directly. Bankruptcy and SEC filing details come from published reporting of the company’s disclosures rather than the primary documents, and matters may have progressed since — the position on 8 August 2026 may not be the position when you read this.
We could not verify current return terms, current pricing, or whether the entity now operating the website differs from the one that filed. Comparative price figures for moissanite and lab-grown diamond are indicative market ranges from secondary sources, not this brand’s prices. Nothing here is legal or financial advice, and anyone making a significant purchase should verify the current position themselves before ordering.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Charles & Colvard still in business?
The website is trading normally as of 8 August 2026, with an operational cart and no notice of any difficulty. But the company filed a voluntary Chapter 11 petition on 3 March 2026 in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, and specified business assets were sold at auction. Chapter 11 is a restructuring rather than a liquidation, and the company filed motions to keep paying employees and vendors so it could operate normally throughout — so "still in business" is fair, but the corporate situation behind the website has changed substantially.
What happened with the asset sale?
A stalking-horse bid of $1,500,000 from Van Lang Jewelry LLC was superseded at auction on 22 June 2026, when AJS Creations, Inc. was selected as the successful bidder for specified business assets at $2,700,000 in cash. The Bankruptcy Court approved that purchase agreement on 25 June 2026, with closing required by 7 July 2026.
Is the lifetime warranty still valid?
We could not establish that, and it is the most important unanswered question about buying here. Charles & Colvard has long promoted a Limited Lifetime Warranty covering the fire and brilliance of its moissanite, and the website still advertises a lifetime warranty. But asset sales in bankruptcy frequently transfer assets free and clear of existing liabilities, which can mean pre-existing warranty obligations do not automatically pass to the buyer. Whether AJS Creations assumed those obligations is something we could not determine. Treat the warranty as worth nothing unless you get written confirmation of who stands behind it.
Does that mean the jewellery is bad?
No, and this distinction matters. Moissanite is a genuine, durable gemstone and a ring you receive is a ring you own — a corporate restructuring does not change the stone in the setting. The risk here is not product quality. It is entirely about whether anyone will honour a future claim under a lifetime guarantee.
Why did the company get into trouble?
Reporting of the company's own court filings attributes the difficulty to falling lab-grown diamond prices making moissanite harder to sell. That is a coherent explanation: moissanite's core proposition was looking like a diamond for far less money, and as lab-grown diamond prices fell dramatically, the gap that made moissanite compelling narrowed. The product did not get worse; its competitive position did.
How does moissanite compare to diamond physically?
It is slightly softer and considerably more sparkly. Moissanite scores 9.25 on the Mohs hardness scale against diamond's 10, which is still very hard and entirely suitable for everyday wear. Its refractive index of roughly 2.65 to 2.69 exceeds diamond's 2.42, so it is more brilliant, and its fire — the coloured flashes — is reported at over four times that of any other popular gemstone.
Can people tell it is not a diamond?
Sometimes, and counterintuitively it is because moissanite outperforms diamond optically rather than falling short. The very high dispersion produces pronounced rainbow flashes that some people find beautiful and others read as a giveaway, particularly in larger stones and bright light. If your goal is for nobody to be able to tell, a lab-grown diamond is the more reliable choice; if you simply like a stone with a lot of sparkle, moissanite is arguably the better one.
What does it cost against a lab-grown diamond?
Still considerably less. Reported figures put a one-carat moissanite at roughly $500 to $800 against $1,500 to $3,000 for a comparable lab-grown diamond, with moissanite typically 70% to 90% cheaper. The gap widens at larger sizes, with two to three carat moissanite around $700 to $1,300 against $1,800 to $3,500 or more for lab diamonds. Those are indicative market figures rather than Charles & Colvard prices.
Verdict
2.2 / 5
A genuinely excellent gemstone at a genuinely low price, sold by a company that filed Chapter 11 in March 2026 and had its assets auctioned in June — while its website advertises a lifetime warranty and mentions none of it.
The score is not about the moissanite, and we want that understood. Moissanite is a superb stone: 9.25 on the Mohs scale, more brilliant than diamond on refractive index, with fire over four times that of other popular gemstones, at 70% to 90% less than a comparable lab-grown diamond. Charles & Colvard originated it. A ring you receive will be beautiful and will stay beautiful, and no corporate filing changes that.
The score is about a promise and who is left to keep it. The company filed Chapter 11 on 3 March 2026, its assets were auctioned to AJS Creations for $2.7 million on 22 June with court approval on 25 June, and that followed a reverse split in 2024 and a Nasdaq delisting in April 2025 for failing to file quarterly reports. Bankruptcy asset sales frequently pass assets free of existing liabilities, and we could not establish whether the Limited Lifetime Warranty travelled with them.
What tips this from a caution into a criticism is that the website says none of it while continuing to advertise the lifetime warranty. Chapter 11 is a restructuring, operations legitimately continued, and a brand surviving under new ownership is a normal and often good outcome. But a customer paying a brand premium substantially justified by a lifetime guarantee is entitled to know the guarantee’s status has become an open question.
So: if you want moissanite, moissanite is a great buy. Ask in writing who honours the warranty now, pay by credit card, and price the purchase as though the guarantee does not exist. If it still looks like good value at that price — and at $500 to $800 a carat it well might — go ahead. Just do not pay extra for a promise nobody has confirmed is still owed.
Get the Warranty Position in Writing
Ask who honours the lifetime warranty following the Chapter 11 asset sale, keep the reply, and price the ring as though the answer is nobody. Pay by credit card for chargeback protection, check current return terms at checkout rather than trusting anything written earlier, and look at moissanite next to a lab-grown diamond in daylight before you decide — the extra fire is the thing you will either love or notice. This page is informational only and is not legal or financial advice.