The Soviet-perfected skull crucible is still used today, with little variation.

The Skull Crucible process was developed at the Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow to manufacture cubic zirconia.

The skull crucible technique was first developed in 1960s France, but was perfected in the early 1970s by Soviet scientists under V. V. Osiko at the Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow.

CZ was thus grown in a crucible of itself, a technique called cold crucible (in reference to the cooling pipes) or skull crucible (in reference to either the shape of the crucible or of the crystals grown).

Later, Soviet Union scientists under V. V. Osiko at the Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow perfected the technique, which was then named 'skull crucible' (an allusion either to the shape of the water-cooled container or to the occasional form of crystals grown).