When investing in lifetime pieces like engagement rings, one has a need for reassurance. It can be devastating for a bride to find out years down the road that her 1.5-carat natural diamond was never anything more than a fake.
Get a Certificate
With Diamond Mansions gems, this will not be a concern. Precious stones from Diamond Mansion come with a certification from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) stating its authenticity, clarity, color, and brilliance. Diamond Mansion takes pride in offering only the highest-quality natural, Earth-mind, untreated diamonds.
All our diamonds are certified by independent gemological laboratories (like the GIA). Upon purchase, you’ll receive a certificate of authenticity and quality report unique to your diamond. Our GIA certified diamonds are also inscribed with the certification number, so you know you’re getting the real deal. With so many diamond substitutions and stimulants out there, a certification aids peace of mind.
Several common “fake diamonds” occur naturally. Colorless sapphire, colorless topaz, Moissanite, Cublic Zirconium, Swarovski Zirconiam crystal, and colorless zircon are all often mistaken for diamonds. However, with a little training on some tell-tale signs, you can be spotting fakes in no time. If you have older relatives with antique jewelry, it is good practice to learn. That being said, lab-grown diamonds are undetectable to the naked eye, and even experts can’t tell the difference. Only a special device like the one from GIA can detect lab created diamonds.
1. The Fog Test
Real diamonds are incredible conductors of heat. This also means that they disperse heat rather quickly. One of the easiest methods to confirm a real diamond from home is the fog test.
For the test, hold the ring up to your mouth and breathe on it with a puff of air. A light fog will quickly develop within the diamond due to the moisture and heat of breath.
If the fog goes away immediately, that diamond is the real deal. If it takes time, that stone could possibly be a fake. Additionally, a fake diamond will fog up much easier than a real one.
2. The Water Test
This may be the easiest trick we have up our sleeves.
Real diamonds possess a very high density. High-density objects will always sink in water. Fill a large glass with about ¾ of the way with water, and immediately drop the stone in question. If it sinks right to the bottom, the diamond is real. If it floats at all, even if only to the middle of the glass, you have a fake diamond on your hands.
3. The Heat Test
The high natural pressure required to make diamonds imbue them with strength and durability. This test will measure the diamond’s reaction to high heat exposure.
You will need a glass of cool water, pliers, fireproof gloves, and a lighter or live flame. Using the pliers to hold the diamond in place, heat it with the lighter for about 40 seconds. Immediately drop the gem into cold water and observe the reaction.
Fake diamonds may shatter right away when subjected to this process. Weaker materials cannot withstand the rapid expansion and contraction of heat. A pyrex dish will react the same way if you try to wash it straight out of the oven.
4. Search for Imperfections
Even diamonds with the highest clarity rating of Fl have some minor imperfections or inclusions. No two natural diamonds are exactly alike, and very few are completely without flaw.
With a standard household magnifying glass, you should be able to notice these inclusions without much guidance. If you can’t find any, there is a very good chance that stone is fake.
Flawless diamonds exist, but are incredibly rare and outside most people’s price range. Completely perfect diamonds can be formed in the lab; it is completely up to the ring’s wearer if lab-grown diamonds are acceptable.
5. Read Through/Dot Test
Real diamonds are cut to have many facets.
The most common and popular cut is the round brilliant-cut, which produces 58 mathematically proportional facets in the diamond. A diamond’s signature sparkle comes from its facet pattern and the way in which it refracts light. Brilliance refers to the amount of white light reflected, and fire refers to the amount of light refracted into different colors.
An easy and rather definitive at-home test involves a newspaper. In a well-lit room, hold the ring above a newspaper. Try to read the words below through the diamond.
If you can even make out the letters on a page, the diamond is fake. Authentic facets will refract and distort light to such extremes that you will be unable to read or see anything through it.
You could alternatively place a dot onto a sheet of plain white paper. Then place the diamond onto the dot with its flat side down. Through the stone’s pointed edge, try to look through at the dot. If you can see any reflection of the dot, you are not dealing with an authentic diamond.
The effect of facets is extreme for a reason: no other gem in the world shines and sparkles exactly like a diamond does. This characteristic is the basis for many at-home authentication tests.
BONUS: Consulting an Expert
No matter how determined you are to prove that your diamond is real, it may be hard to know for sure unless you consult a professional.
Licensed gemologists use loupes, or special magnifying glasses to study gems in great detail. These people have valuable experience identifying characteristics native to only true jewels. Almost any diamond a person can buy will yield inclusions under the view of a loupe.
Another helpful tool is a thermal conductivity probe. Nicknamed “the diamond tester” for brevity’s sake, this device measures how conductive a gemstone is. It actually measures how quickly a jewel disperses heat. Like we mentioned above, diamonds disperse heat very quickly.
Diamond Mansion guarantees satisfaction and authenticity for all of its products. Part of our mission is to educate people on the many facets of the study of diamonds. For more information that may aid you in catching a fake in the future, start with our Basics Guide to Diamond Education.
Sources:
https://www.diamondmansion.com/blog/how-can-you-tell-if-a-diamond-is-real/
https://www.diamonds.pro/education/how-to-tell-if-diamonds-are-real/
https://www.theknot.com/content/how-to-tell-diamond-real-home-tests#section–1-ow-to-ell
https://www.gemsociety.org/article/how-to-spot-a-fake-diamond/