Have you ever looked into buying a diamond engagement ring? Or any other jewelry that contains diamonds. In that case, you’re probably familiar with the famous four Cs to help determine the quality of a diamond: cut, carat weight, color, and clarity. But did you know that there are also four Ds? These will help you to spot a real diamond from a fake. These may not be as popular as the four Cs, but they’re just as important when it comes to making sure your sparkly purchase didn’t come from a lab-created stone rather than from Mother Nature.
And if you do want a lab-created stone, that’s completely fine too—so long as you know, that’s what you’re getting. Before shelling out big bucks for an engagement ring or investing in any new piece of jewelry with diamonds in it, you should know how to tell if a diamond is real vs fake.
Check out these simple DIY tests to spot a real diamond from a fake one.
The Fog Test
The fog test is one of the easiest and most effective ways to identify a real diamond from a fake. It can be performed in your own home, but it does require that you have access to water and something in which to place the diamond for observation.
First, you’ll need a small jar or glass container with a lid (a recycled spice jar works great). Fill it with water two-thirds of the way up. Place your suspect stone into this container—it should be able to float freely in the center of your jar as long as there’s enough room around it for condensation on its surface when you put it underwater (which will happen later). Now seal off your jar with its lid and place it on an elevated surface where sunlight won’t hit directly on top of either object inside.
Wait about five minutes, then remove your stones from their respective containers and examine them closely. If they’re both genuine diamonds, you should see some kind of cloudiness around both objects after being immersed in liquid; if not, then one or both are likely fakes!
Photo by Ray Piedra: https://www.pexels.com/photo/clear-liquid-in-drinking-glass-1556381/
The Dot Test
This is a simple test that can be done in the comfort of your own home. All you need are two items: a real diamond and a piece of glass, both about the same size. Hold the real diamond up to the glass and look through it at some distant object (like a wall), then do the same with another object under similar lighting conditions. Look at how much more clearly and sharply defined everything appears when looking through your diamond versus looking through just plain glass. This will help you determine whether or not what you have is actually an expensive gemstone!
The Scratch Test
This test is super simple and requires just a few minutes of your time to do. If you have a diamond or even know someone who has a diamond you can use this test on, it’s worth it. If you don’t have access to one, go ahead and buy one at your local jewelry store. We’ll walk you through the steps quickly:
- Use a nail or pin to scratch the surface of your diamond at an angle
- Suppose your stone scratches easily and leaves behind little bits of black carbon, congratulations! You’ve got yourself some real deal diamonds!
- If there isn’t any visible scratching or discoloration when you stick that nail in there, as we said above? We hate being harsh, but it means it might be fake!
The Bubble Test
Be very careful if you choose to try this test! This test is a little more complicated than the others, but it’s still easy to do. You’ll need a microwave, some water, and a diamond to test.
First, place your diamond in a glass or metal bowl and add just enough water to cover the stone. The exact amount of water isn’t important—you can always add more if necessary later—but you should use enough so that the stone will be submerged by at least half an inch of liquid when it’s being heated in the microwave.
Next, take your microwave-safe container with its precious cargo inside and place it in your microwave on high power for five minutes (or longer if necessary). Let’s suppose everything goes according to plan after heating up for several minutes. You’ll begin to see bubbles forming around where your stone has been submerged underwater because carbon dioxide gas is being released from within during this process.
Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/water-bubbles-under-the-sea-62307/
The Reading Glasses Test
This is a great test to do when you are shopping for a diamond and have the luxury of time. You can use any pair of reading glasses, but it’s best if they are plastic frames. If the frame has metal parts, like hinges or screws, use another pair because those pieces may scratch your diamond.
Look through your reading glasses at your diamond. You should see an almost perfect reflection of yourself—the only difference being that the person in the reflection is wearing sunglasses! Your eyes will be squinting because they’re so close up to your gemstone.
Take off your sunglasses and look again. If there’s still no rainbow-like reflection on your stone’s surface then it means that either: (1) this isn’t a real diamond or (2) someone has tried to remove all traces of iron from it by using harsh chemicals which usually makes synthetic stones turn black over time (we don’t recommend doing this).
The Loupe or Magnifying Glass Test
When you want to know if your diamond is real, look for imperfections. A real diamond has imperfections on its surface. The more flaws it has, the better! If a diamond is perfect, then it isn’t worth much money because most people don’t like perfect things. So what do you look for when you’re examining your diamond? You should look for cracks and inclusions.
Cracks are when two parts of the same gemstone touch each other and grow closer together over time; this creates a crack in between them that can be seen by looking through an optical lens like a magnifying glass or loupe (a fancy word for “magnifying glass”). Inclusions are bits of foreign material inside your gemstone that affect its appearance—they may look like little dots or lines inside the stone itself when viewed with magnification.”
Photo by cottonbro: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-holding-a-magnifying-glass-6491797/
Polariscope Test
A polariscope is a tool used to detect the presence of a diamond’s natural crystal structure. A diamond’s lattice is unique and different from other gemstones. It is composed of carbon atoms that are arranged in a specific way to give diamonds their hardness, brilliance, and luster.
In order for this test to work correctly, you will need someone who has experience using one. If you do not have someone in your life who owns one, try taking your gemstone into a jewelry store or mall jewelry kiosk where they may have one available for use by customers.
The way it works is pretty simple. You hold the stone up against a polarizing filter mounted in front of an eyepiece on top of the device so that only light rays parallel (in line) with its axis passes through it. Then rotate this filter until transmitted light appears white (no color). Any deviation from this indicates that there are non-diamond materials in your sample, which could be anything from glass to cubic zirconium!
Thermal Conductivity Meter Test
If you are serious about spotting fake diamonds, it’s worth investing in a thermal conductivity meter. This device measures the thermal conductivity of a material, and while these can be expensive to purchase, they are often available for rent or loan at jewelers and museums.
The thermal conductivity of diamond is 1.00 W/mK (watts per meter Kelvin). The thermal conductivity of cubic zirconia, on the other hand, is 0.05 W/mK (as opposed to gold’s 16 W/mK).
To use this test with your own diamond or cubic zirconia gemstones, first heat up both gems by placing them under hot running water for about 20 minutes before testing them using your handheld device (the more accurate method is through an infrared camera).
Diamond Tester Pro
A diamond tester is a handheld device that uses a diamond probe to test the authenticity of a diamond. There are many different types of testers, and they all work on slightly different principles. Some testers use heat to detect artificial diamonds, while others rely on magnetic fields or ultraviolet light.
The Diamond Tester Pro is one such tester (hence its name). It is hand-held, portable, and easy to use, making it ideal for testing stones in jewelry stores or at home. The Diamond Tester Pro works by shining an ultraviolet light through the stone being tested; if there are no flaws present in the stone’s structure, then this will not affect its ability to reflect light back through it—and so any flaws visible under UV rays will indicate that your stone might be fake.
Photo by say straight: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-photo-diamonds-stud-earrings-2735970/
Knowing what to look for can help you spot a real diamond when trying to make a purchase or determine if the diamond you have is real. The more you know, the better you can protect yourself and your family. The more you know, the better you can protect your friends. We hope you enjoyed reading about these easy DIY tests to spot a real diamond from a fake. Feel free to share them with your friends and family!
