There are a few ways to tell whether a diamond is fake or real. While this is not a scientific test, it can help determine if the stone is natural. The diamond will appear to have a bright halo around the rim. Another way to tell if the stone is natural is to look at it under a bright light. Diamonds will reflect light in all directions, so this test may not be practical.
You can use a diamond selector tool to tell if it is a fake. You can buy one online or at your local jewelry store. These devices can be used to touch the stone to determine its authenticity. However, if you are not willing to invest in this expensive equipment or years of experience, you can take the diamond to a trusted jeweler. These professionals have years of experience and education to distinguish between a fake and a natural diamond.
Some Common Tests that you can do to Find Whether a Diamond is Fake or Real
Water Test
Use this simple technique to determine whether or not a diamond is genuine.
Fill a normal-sized drinking glass with water to 34% capacity. Drop the loose stone into the glass with care. It’s a genuine diamond if the gemstone sinks. You’ve got a fake on your hands, whether it floats beneath or on top of the water. The water test determines whether your stone matches the density of a genuine diamond.
Test for Fog
Hold the diamond or ring between two fingers and blow on it with a puff of air to perform the fog test. Because of the moisture and heat in your breath, a light fog will form on the diamond. If the fog clears quickly, the diamond is genuine. It’s most likely a fake diamond if the fog takes several seconds to clear. Diamonds are excellent heat conductors and dissipate heat quickly.
Double-Check the Settings and Mount
Examine the setting and mount used if a diamond has previously been set in a ring.
Because of the exorbitant cost of a diamond, it will only be put in high-end jewelry. A natural diamond, for example, will be set in white gold, platinum, yellow gold, pave or side-stone setting rings, and the halo setting rings.
Look for indications inside the ring’s center to determine if the setting is exactly as described. The notes 10K, 14K, and 18K, for example, show the sort of gold employed. Platinum is denoted by the letters PT and Plat. If you see a number like 585, 770, 900, or 950 on something, it’s platinum or gold.
Heat the Stone and Check for Shattering
Diamonds are constructed of solid material and will not respond to high temperatures.
Grab a drinking glass and fill it with cold water to see if a diamond is natural. To hold the stone, use plyers or fireproof gloves. Heat the stone for about 40 seconds with a lighter, then drop it into the cold water. If the stone breaks, it is constructed of inferior materials and is not a genuine diamond. A genuine diamond will not react in any way.
The heat test determines the stone’s quality and strength. Soft materials, such as glass or cubic zirconium, will fracture and break due to the rapid expansion and contraction of the heart. Consider a cooking dish made of glass or Pyrex. If you take a hot dish out of the oven and try to wash it right away, the sudden temperature difference could fracture it.
Diamonds will withstand such heat testing because they are one of the most rigid materials on the earth. The heat will swiftly dissipate, and the diamond will be unaffected by the temperature shift.
UV Light Examination
Place a diamond under UV light and observe the reaction to see if it is fundamental differently. Most diamonds, but not all, will give off a blue hue. Under UV light, some diamonds do not glow. As a result, if the stone doesn’t light, the results aren’t always indicative of a false diamond.
Because this test isn’t conclusive, it’s advisable to have a diamond expert or jeweler evaluate the stone using their advanced equipment.
How to Test Diamond at Home Using Refractivity?
You can observe a diamond’s ability to bend and refract light when you watch it sparkle. Light is bounced and refracted through the diamond’s table (the top, flat surface) to the naked eye when it strikes the pavilions (the angled surfaces on the lower half of the diamond). Brilliance is used to describe how well a diamond performs in this area and how brightly it glows.
Non-diamond stones, such as Cubic Zirconia, do not refract light as well as diamonds. If they have any genius at all, it will be limited.
Use the following tests to determine a diamond’s refractivity.
The ‘Read-Through’ Effect in Newspapers
Place the diamond flat side down on a newspaper page in an area with a lot of lettering to evaluate its refractivity. Ensure the lighting is good and there are no shadows cast on the diamond by objects or people.
The diamond is false if you can read the letters in the newspaper, even if they are a little fuzzy. If the diamond is genuine, its facets will refract light in various directions rather than straight lines. You won’t be able to see clearly through the diamond and make out the text on the paper due to the refraction of light.
On loose diamonds, the newspaper test is most effective. If the diamond is already in its setting, use the fog test or have it evaluated by a diamond professional.
The Dot Test is a method of determining whether or not a person
The dot test is an excellent substitute if you don’t have any newspaper.
Draw a small dot with a pen on white paper on a flat surface. Place the flat side of the stone on the dot. Look down on the paper through the diamond’s pointed end. If the gemstone has a circular reflection inside it, it is a fake. The diamond is natural if you can’t see the dot or a reflection in the stone.
Light will bounce in many directions instead of a straight line because a genuine diamond has significant refractive properties. This is why a natural, genuine diamond will not allow you to see letters or dots.
Is the Scratch Test Reliable for Verifying a Diamond’s Authenticity?
The scratch test has initially been a popular method for determining the hardness of a gemstone’s mineral. The loose gemstone was scraped against a mirror to check if it would scratch the mirror or the stone.
While a diamond is made of rigid materials, imitations such as cubic zirconia and moissanite are also durable and scratch-resistant. As a result, the scratch test is ineffective. Other procedures, such as a thermal conductivity test or viewing the diamond with a professional loupe instrument, are preferable options.
How to Tell if a Stone isn’t a Genuine Diamond?
With the growing popularity of various gemstones, here are some tips for detecting a stone that looks like a natural diamond to the human eye.
Synthetic Diamonds: How to Spot them
With the frequency of synthetic diamonds on the rise, it’s critical to understand how to distinguish between lab-created and genuine diamonds. Synthetic diamonds feature chemical and molecular components comparable to those found in natural diamonds.
We recommend having the diamond examined by a professional due to its complicated internal features. They can do a conductivity test and examine the stone under a microscope. It’s critical for resale and insurance values, even if it’s difficult to distinguish between a synthetic and a genuine diamond with the naked eye.
Identifying Cubic Zirconia
Cubic zirconia is one of the most straightforward fake diamonds to identify. It’s relatively easy to evaluate the amount of sparkle and fire a stone emits by utilizing the sparkle test, for example.
Cubic zirconias also reflect orange-tinted light. They also weigh more than a natural diamond and are usually free of flaws and blemishes. In natural diamonds, inclusions can be noticed with the naked eye or under a diamond expert’s microscope.
White Sapphire Identification
Sapphires are usually found in blue and various other colors, including white, which seems to be transparent to the human eye. White sapphires are frequently portrayed as diamonds, although they lack the glitter and contrast of dark and light parts that distinguish diamonds.
It’s more likely to be a white sapphire if the stone’s hue is more blurred—that is, it doesn’t have distinct bright and dark areas.
Moissanite Identification
The synthetic moissanite is maybe the best actor in the fake diamond business. The distinction between the two is frequently difficult to make with the naked eye and necessitates the assistance of a diamond expert.
If the gemstone is moissanite or a genuine diamond, an electrical conductivity test will determine whether it is moissanite or a genuine diamond. Because moissanite and diamonds have virtually equal thermal conductivities, the thermal conductivity test is not an effective method for identifying them.
White Topaz Identification
While a white topaz may appear to be a diamond, it differs from a genuine diamond in various ways.
Other materials easily scratch the exterior, which is softer than a diamond. You may also use magnification to look closely at a white topaz to see whether there are any scratches on the surface. Diamonds are scratch-resistant due to their long-lasting nature.
What are Diamond Stimulants?
A diamond simulant, also known as a simulated diamond, diamond imitation, imitation diamond, or diamond alternative, is a stone with gemological properties comparable to those of a natural diamond. As the name implies, diamond simulants are used in the jewelry industry to simulate actual diamonds. Despite their resemblance to the real thing, Diamond imitations always have a different chemical structure and physical qualities than diamonds. A qualified gemologist with the proper equipment can always differentiate a diamond simulant from a natural diamond by visual inspection.
Natural and synthetic diamond implants are available. Rhinestone, cubic zirconia (CZ), moissanite, white sapphire, spinel, rutile, strontium titanate, YAG (yttrium aluminum garnet), and GGG are some of the most popular synthetic stimulants (gadolinium gallium garnet). Quartz, zircon, and topaz are natural diamond substitutes.
Lab-grown diamonds, also known as synthetic, artificial, cultured, or cultivated diamonds, are not the same as diamond simulants. Natural/mined diamonds have the same crystal structure and chemical content (100 percent carbon). Synthetic diamonds also have the same physical and optical features as genuine diamonds, such as hardness (10 on the Mohs scale) and refractive index (2.417–2.419). The main distinction between lab-grown and natural diamonds is that lab-grown diamonds are synthesized in laboratories, whereas natural diamonds are mined from the earth.
Isn’t Buying Lab-Grown Diamonds “Cheap”?
Because lab-created diamonds are “cheap,” some people believe they are unsuitable for an engagement ring. Others argue that a diamond is a diamond, whether it was mined or created in a laboratory. For ethical and environmental grounds, others prefer lab-created diamonds to mined diamonds.
A majority of consumers used to think lab-created diamonds were “cheap.” Attitudes, on the other hand, are rapidly shifting. About a third of people between the ages of 21 and 40 looking for an engagement ring is now open to lab-grown diamonds. That’s not surprising, given natural diamond sticker shock. Lab-grown diamonds cost roughly 30-40% less than equivalent natural diamonds, and they also have the same appearance. A lab-grown diamond is a practical and guilt-free option, with reduced prices and verified ethical sources.
Isn’t a Lab-Created Diamond Just a Forgery?
Fake diamonds are nothing like lab-grown diamonds. Fake diamonds were traditionally made of glass. Glass is far less durable than a well-cut diamond and has far less radiance. Other diamond clones, such as synthetic cubic zirconia and natural zircon or topaz stones, are prone to chipping. These problems do not exist in lab-created diamonds, and they’re as hardy and dazzling as any genuine diamond.
Even yet, there’s nothing wrong with going for a diamond-like imitation. Moissanites, for example, are a popular, long-lasting, and inexpensive alternative to diamonds. They also have a diamond-like appearance, and only a professional would be able to identify the difference!
Conclusion
If you can’t tell the difference between a fake and a natural diamond, you may be buying a cheap imitation. Using a loupe or a magnifying glass will help you see the real thing. A natural diamond will not have inclusions and will have fewer imperfections. If the diamond looks too clean, it’s likely fake, and a clean diamond will appear to be more expensive than a fake.
To determine if a loose stone is a fake or natural diamond, you can take it to a gemologist and get an expert opinion. The jeweler will use various techniques to examine the stone and issue a report regarding its value and quality. The appraiser will do thermal, weight, and fluorescence tests and will give you a certificate stating that the stone is genuine. The certificate is also a valuable document for insurance purposes.
