Diamonds are precious gemstones that have reigned the hearts of people since times unknown. No one in History has ever been to escape their charm and sparkling brilliance. Even with the ushering of contemporary jewelry and fake gemstones in the modern era, diamonds have acquired a special place for themselves that remains untainted and unchallenged by any other metal, precious or fake.
How to tell if a diamond is real?
Geologists are often faced with a common question, i.e how to tell a real diamond from a fake one? While geologists at jewellery stores use sophisticated devices like diamond tester to assess the authenticity of diamonds, there are a couple of DIY tests that can be done at home before presenting the pieces to the geologist. Some of most accurate ways are described below:
- Scrutinize
the diamond through the loupe: A magnifying glass like loupe can be easily purchased from a jewellery store at a low cost. This glass is no ordinary one as it enables you to take a finer viewer of the cut, clarity and setting of your diamond piece. Since diamonds are in essence forms of carbon, their lattice house myriad imperfections, which are easy to visualize through the loupe. Fake stones will have perfect lattice structures that glisten equally in light. Also, note the edges, real ones have razor sharp edges, while fake stones have blunt edges. - Rub the stone against sandpaper: This is a fairly simple test and requires as much as a piece of sandpaper to adjudge the authenticity of the speculated stone. Since diamond is the toughest material of the world, it is completely resilient to scratching or abrasions on rough surface. Thus if the stone you rub is a real diamond, it will maintain its integrity, but if its fake and made of cubic zirconium or so, it will show up signs of abrasion immediately.
- Perform fog test: If you breathe on a diamond stone the same manner you fog up your breath on the bathroom mirror, you will be able to understand the real nature of the stone in no time. While fake diamonds fog up by retaining the warmth of your body breath for a short interval of time, real ones remain untainted and do not settle fog as it is but their characteristic property to resist retention of heat.
- Hold it against light to check its sparkle: Another simple test is to hold up the stone against bright light and note its brilliance. Diamonds reflect all kinds of light in a way that is unique to them. Inside, the diamond sparkles gray or white while outside, it reflects the colors of rainbow over other surfaces. The fire that diamond merchants boast about is actually this reflected or dispersed light. Fake stones on the other hand sparkle rainbow colors on the inside instead of outside.
- Observe refractivity of stone: The characteristic brilliance of diamonds may be credited to the ways in which they refract light or bend it in different directions. Fake stones like glass, cubic zirconium and quartz do mimic diamond’s sparkle for certain, but have lower values of refractive index than actual diamonds. Hold up the stone atop a newspaper and note the scattering of light. Real diamonds prevent dark reflection, but fake ones allow black reflection of newspaper print to shine through, so much so that you can even read the words if the size of stone is large.
- Use diamond tester: A foolproof way of checking the quality of the diamond stone is by using a tester. It is nothing but a sophisticated fine device that renders immediate results on the stone’s authenticity.
Get help from a gemologist
If you are still wondering on how to tell if the diamond is real and do not quite trust your own observation powers, it is best to take your precious jewels to a gemologist. It is not wise to present your diamonds before any jeweler. Do your research well to bank on a qualified one only. Malls very often house salesman who merely know what best appeals to target masses and are certainly not gemologists. Look beyond average jewelry stores and visit antique stores in search of a competent gemologist.
