How to verify the authenticity of a diamond?

Diamond is one of the most expensive and mysterious minerals, which is widely used in various industrial fields. In jewelry, only faceted crystals are used, since it is only in this form that you can see its unique optical properties and enjoy the incredible play of colors. In pursuit of profit under the guise of this rare stone, they often sell synthetic material or even ordinary glass.

In order not to fall for "the bait" of fraudsters, it is necessary to know the difference between a fake diamond and a real one, and what manipulations will help identify a fake.

In nature, diamond is quite rare, which makes it expensive. This stone is formed by high temperatures and pressure. It is incredibly solid and has good thermal conductivity. Untreated crystal can not be called attractive - it is dull, the surface is rough, with a gray coating and cracks. Only after being cut by jewelers, the mineral will become transparent and will sparkle when exposed to the sun.

The most common are colorless diamonds, which look white or light gray before processing. But there are also stones of pale pink, yellow, brown and green. The most rare prey is the black gem.

Jewels with faceted diamonds are very expensive, but their beauty and brilliance are worth every cent, so it is not surprising that they are in great demand. Unfortunately, fraudsters who have learned to forge diamonds use this. To do this, someone artificially grows crystals, someone gives out cheaper minerals as a jewel, and someone at all has got a handle in a special way to process glass.

Distinguish natural from artificial stone of high quality can only be done by a professional. Nevertheless, there are several ways to recognize a fake, and manipulations are so simple that they can be easily made at home.

At home, determining the authenticity of a diamond is easy. To do this, you must perform the following manipulations.

1. Inspect the stone in daylight - it should look beautiful on all sides. Counterfeits are usually most attractive only from above, since it is this part that is always in sight.
2. A real diamond always remains cold, even if it is held for a long time in your hand. An artificial copy quickly takes the heat and holds it.
3. Breathe on the mineral - if it sweats, then you have a fake. The original always remains transparent.
4. If you drop a pebble into the water, it will surely sink, while a fake will float on the surface for a while. But if the alleged diamond also fell to the bottom, then after a few minutes you need to inspect it without removing it from the water. The edges of natural stone will be blurred and poorly visible, and the outline of the synthetic product will remain clear.
5. Try using a needle, toothpick or pipette to drip water onto the diamond. If a drop has formed and it does not spread, even when it is pierced with a thin sharp object, then the stone is real.
6. Under direct sunlight, the crystal should sparkle exclusively with shades of gray, but the fake will shine with all the colors of the rainbow.
7. If you shine a small flashlight through the stone, and on the back side you will clearly see a ray of light, it means fake in your hands. In the natural, multiple refraction of light rays occurs, which is why only a halo of light is visible on the reverse side.
8. Under ultraviolet radiation, diamond sparkles even brighter than in sunlight, and fake usually sparkles with yellow-green hues.
9. A magnifying glass with a 20-30-fold increase will help to distinguish a diamond from a fake. If you look at the natural stone through it, then you can see minor defects and blotches.

Diamond unlike other stones always sold in gold or platinum high sample. On the gold product should be sample 585, and on the platinum - 900.

It is possible to verify the authenticity of a diamond at home in more complex ways that involve the use of third-party substances.

1. Butter. If any oily substance, such as vegetable oil, is applied to the surface of the mineral and applied to a smooth vertical surface, it will stick. When carrying out similar manipulations with an artificial specimen, it simply slides down.
2. Hydrochloric acid. The original crystal has high strength and resistance to aggressive substances. It retains its original appearance and attractiveness, even if hydrochloric acid gets on its surface. And the appearance of a fake pebble will noticeably change - cracks and deformations will appear.
3. Sharp temperature drop. Try to heat the gem on an open fire, for example, a lighter, and then abruptly place it in cold water. If it is real, then nothing will happen, and a fake after such tests will be covered with cracks, dimmed or deformed.

Instead of natural diamond, from which diamonds are made for inlaying jewelry, artificial analogs are often used. It can be quartz, cubic zirconia, zirconium, rock crystal, mussanite or ordinary glass. It is rather difficult to distinguish high-quality fakes to the simple buyer, but if you know the main distinguishing features of the listed materials, it will still be possible to recognize the falsification yourself.

• Zircon - artificially grown diamond, which by its external characteristics is very similar to a real gem, but it is very cheap. You can detect a fake with a magnifying glass. In zirconia, as a rule, there are colored impurities, and the back face is always split. In addition, wearing a decoration on the hand and looking through it, you can see the skin. Diamond does not allow this to be done, which is explained by the peculiarity of its internal structure.

• Fianit is zirconium dioxide, therefore it has almost the same characteristics as the specimen described above. The main distinguishing features include high conductivity of light and shine orange glitter.

• Mussanite - synthetic stone, closest to the original. It can be recognized by a gray-green shade, and the presence of long narrow channels inside the product, which are visible under a magnifying glass. Moreover, compared to a real diamond, mussanite glitters much brighter.

• Glass - the cheapest analog gem. The easiest way to distinguish a natural mineral from glass is to try to read through it the text by attaching the product to a newspaper or magazine. The high density of the diamond will not allow this.

• Rhinestone - not the worst replacement for a diamond, because according to external characteristics they are very similar. To distinguish a diamond from a rock crystal, it is enough to drop water on it, and if the drop does not spread, it means that you have a real gem.

In order not to bother to check, and not to guess how to distinguish a diamond from quartz, glass or other stones, It is recommended to purchase jewelry exclusively in jewelry stores. Only in this case, you can ask the seller for a certificate of authenticity for jewelry, inlaid with natural minerals.

How to determine the authenticity of a diamond at home, you will learn from the video below.