Zircon is a very interesting accessory mineral, a kind of ‘crustal diamond’, easily recycled and recording through large morphological variability the main rock-forming events. Since 1985, a systematic study of chemical variability of zircon in magmatic rocks has led to the definition of three main generations in zircon populations: inherited phase 1, magmatic phase 2 and late magmatic phase 3. Hafnium and yttrium appear to be the most useful for source characterisation, especially if using phase 2 data. As a consequence, a new diagram of HfO 2versus Y 2O 3is proposed, divided into domains la to 6b to describe the distribution of the genetic groups and the specific domains for anorogenic and orogenic rocks. Zircon in anorogenic granitoids: tholeiitic plagiogranites (high Y, low Hf), hypersolvus (medium to low Y, low Hf) and subsolvus (medium to high Y and Hf) alkaline granites/rhyolites, has separate mean distributions. Genetic relations existing between rocks with obvious textural differences (granites, microgranites, rhyolites) are also recognised. Zircon in orogenic granitoids is Y-poor and shows a very limited distribution, but the minimal average values in magmatic zircon vary from 11 000 wt ppm HfO 2in the calc-alkaline suite, to 12 000 ppm in the peraluminous porphyritic granites and to 13 500 ppm in entirely crustal anatectic granites and migmatites. Mixing-mingling processes are proposed to explain the intermediate characteristics of zircons and rocks in the peraluminous porphyritic and K-subalkaline granites. This is consistent with the time emplacement and space distribution of these two orogenic members, but leads to a new proposal of emplacement of some alkaline subsolvus magmas during orogenic cycles.