DIAMOND TESTS: FAKE OR REAL

  Diamond, the precious stone, is an allotrope of carbon. This natural gemstone is recognized for its hardness and high thermal conductivity. Different types of cuts in diamonds give many shapes to it. Round diamonds, heart shaped diamonds, radiant cut diamonds are some of the examples of different shapes. A diamond refers to the symbol of love and status. They are mainly used to deck up different ornaments such as engagement rings or it may be bridal accessories.

But there are many such stones which have the similar chemical composition and resemble real diamonds. Cubic Zirconium, Zircon, Moissanite, White Saphire, Rutile, Spinel, Synthetic Garnet are some minerals that are used as a duplicate diamond. By using these stones instead of real diamonds, people are fooled by the shopkeepers. Thus it is necessary to have a knowledge regarding the characteristics of a real diamond. The main characteristics of a real diamond lies in its 4C's. 4C refers to colour, clarity, cut, and carats. One should be very much careful about this before purchasing.

Diamond Colour- According to the colour, diamonds are graded as D, E, F which are considered colourless and G, H, I are near colourless. An ideal Diamond is always colouless and it is very expensive. Thus it is very hard to find.

Diamond Cut- It represents the brightness. Finer will the work, better will be the quality.

Diamond Clarity- These are the flaws or inclusions present in a diamond. Internally Flawless diamond IF is the pure diamond.

Diamond Carats- All Diamonds are measured in carats. That is 1 carat =0.20 gms. Price of a diamond rises exponentially with its weight.

Now the question arises that though knowing the characteristics how one can examine it.

As diamond is the hardest material, Many people use these characteristics of the diamond to determine a real diamond. They simply use the diamond to cut a glass. But the fault lies here. This is because Quartz, which also lies above glass on Mohs scale, can cut a glass easily. Thus by these types of experiments no one can come to a true solution. There are plenty of methods that will deliver the truth, whether the stone is a real diamond or a fake one.

For the diamonds which are mounted:

1. Fog Test – When the diamond is placed in front of the mouth and fogged. If the stone gets easily fogged in seconds, then it proves to be a fake diamond. This is because a real diamond diffuses all heat and doesn't fog up .
2. With the help of a magnifying glass, it can be observed whether the stone contains any imperfections or flaws. If the stone is not perfect and contains inclusions it means that it is a real one. But diamonds that are made in the lab will somehow be perfect and may contain inclusions, unlike natural diamonds. So this statement has a contradict nature. It is better not to end up with any conclusion with this.

For the diamonds which are unmounted:

1. Refractivity test- Diamonds can be highly identified with the help of its refractivity. When light passes through it, due to its high refractive index they have a dazzling sparkle. Whereas, the Quartz like stones has a very low refractive index. Two types of tests namely newspaper test and dot test can be done. Newspaper test is done in presence of light. The stone should be placed on the newspaper in such a way that the flat surface of the diamond faces the page. If one can read the letters then it can be sure that the stone is fake. Alternatively dot test can also be used to examine a real diamond. A dot is made with a pen on a white paper and then the stone is placed on it. While looking down through the stone, if a circular reflection is observed then the stone is not a real diamond. In other words a real diamond neither gives such kind of reflection nor the dot can be observed through it.
2. Reflection test- Reflections of a real diamond is always gray. Looking down the diamond if rainbow reflections are observed then it can be concluded that it is the fake one.
3. High Density test- If the stone when dropped inside a glass of water sinks, then the stone is a real diamond . This is due to the high density of a diamond. Again if a real diamond is heated up and then dropped into the water then it will not shatter. But other stones such as quartz; have a rapid expansion and contraction.

Cubic Zirconium is a colourless, flawless crystalline form of zirconium dioxide. As it resembles a diamond, but weighs more than a same sized real diamond. Many jewelers use this instead of a diamond in a jewelery. It can be distinguished by a sparkling test where the magnitude of sparkle measured for this cubic zirconium does not surpass that of the diamond. So one should be attentive enough and take the advice of the professionals. With the help of heat probe test, inspection under UV rays, or diamond-moissanite test, it can be authentically proved whether the diamond is a real diamond or simply a fake stone.