How To Make Sure That A Diamond Is Real

Whether you inherited or bought pieces of jewelry that include diamonds, it’s always a good idea to check if it’s real vs fake diamond, in case you want to sell them at a later stage. So, what do you do to make sure that the diamond/s you have is real?

Following are a few ways to do this yourself, at home, followed by how the experts would do it.

Beautiful Diamond Ring [photo: Elina Sazonova]

Checking Your Diamonds At Home

 Mounted

• Do the fog test – breathe on the diamond like you would do to fog up a mirror. Real diamonds do not fog up easily, so if the stone you’re breathing on stays fogged up, then it’s probably fake.
• Examine the setting and mount – real diamonds are normally only set in quality metals like gold or platinum. If the setting is stamped with 10K, 14K, 18K, 585, 750, 900, 950, PT, of Plat, the stone is more than likely a real diamond. However, if you see a “CZ” stamp, which stands for Cubic Zirconia, then your stone is not real, but instead, a synthetic diamond.

Unmounted

• Check the stone’s refractivity – real diamonds refract or bend light sharply that shines through them, which gives them that striking, brilliant, appearance. Glass and quartz have less sparkle because of their lower refractive index.
• Study the reflections – look straight down through the top of the stone. If it’s real, the reflections will appear in different shades of gray, but if the reflections look like a rainbow, then your stone is either not real, or low-quality.
• Do the water test – drop the stone into a glass of water. If it sinks to the bottom, it’s a genuine diamond. Fake stones will float in the middle or on the top of the water.

How The Professionals Do It

While it is important for you to check whether your diamond/s is real, it is also essential that you obtain AGS and GIA certification from a professional to prove the quality of your stone/s.

Beautiful Diamond Ring [photo: Viajero]

Before providing you with such a certificate, a professional like 'The Diamond Pro' will do the following to check whether you have a real or fake diamond:

Inspect it with a loupe, a magnifying glass, specifically designed for checking for imperfections and blemishes on precious stones.

• Use a thermal conductivity probe, also referred to as a diamond tester, which jewelers use to check the thermal conductivity of gemstones.
• Use a special scale for weighing carats. Real diamonds weigh less than fake stones. These minute variations can only be detected when using this extremely fine-tuned scale.
• Use electric conductivity. Professionals use an electrical tester to check whether your stone is a real diamond or cubic zirconia.

Which is better – buying diamonds online, or from a jewelry store?

No matter what you are going to buy, the chances are that you do a bit of shopping around first, before spending your money. This same strategy applies when you are buying diamonds, whether it is from your local jewelry store, or from an online company.

Before spending your hard-earned cash, browse around at what they have to offer, talk to other customers on the online jewelry forums if possible, and do additional research to make sure that you are doing the right thing.

Once you are satisfied that the jeweler – online or a physical store, is indeed reputable, reliable, and trustworthy, then go ahead and buy that stunning piece of diamond jewelry that you want to add to your collection. This way, you can rest assured that the diamond is real