A diamond is amongst the most important purchases in one’s life. More so when you are planning to gift it to someone. These days not only are there are many ‘fakes’ in the market but there are also several stones such as white zircon and white sapphire that are regularly mistaken for a diamond.
So it only makes sense to know if the piece that you are picking up is real or not before you commit yourself to it. Here are some simple home-testing methods that can help you know about your diamond’s authenticity:
The Fog Test
This is one of the easiest ways to check if your diamond is real or not. Clean the stone off any dirt and oils and put it in front of your mouth and breathe air on it. If the fog on your diamond clears instantly in a second or two, then it is real. However, if it takes time for the fog to dissipate, then the authenticity of your stone is questionable. The reason this happens is that real diamonds disperse heat immediately without letting the fog settle on them.
The water test
This method tells you within seconds if you are looking at a genuine or fake diamond. Take a glass full of water and drop your diamond into it. If the diamond is authentic, it will immediately drop to the bottom of the glass. If not, it will keep floating on the surface of the water. This happens because genuine diamonds have a higher density and immediately touch the surface. However, not all counterfeits float in water. So, you might want to use this method with caution and double-check with your jeweller.
The fire test
Another way to check your stone for its authenticity is to light up the stone. Pick your stone with the help of a tweezer and use a lighter on it for 30-40 seconds and then immediately drop it in water. A real diamond will stay intact while a fake will shatter to pieces. The reason is that diamonds are formed over millions of years under intense pressure and can withstand contractions and expansions due to heat. Whereas, the fake ones crack when they are exposed to heat. Pop over to this website to know how to safely do this test.
The newspaper test
This test assesses the genuineness of the diamond by measuring its refractivity. Place the flat surface of your diamond on newspaper print and try to read the letterings. If you can read the letters, the diamond is fake. A real diamond will refract the light and scatter it in different directions, which makes it difficult for us to see through it.
Check the mounting
If you want to check the genuineness of your diamond that’s already mounted in jewellery, have a look at the way that it is set. A real diamond, due to it being expensive, will only be set in high-quality metals like platinum and white or yellow gold. To check the quality of the metals, look up their markings, which should say 10k, 14k, or 18k for gold and 585, 770, 900, and 950 for platinum. You can find out this here. Instead, if you see a C.Z. engraving, then it’s cubic zirconia that you have and not a real diamond.
Though these tests are simple and can be easily done at home, the most conclusive way to assess the authenticity of your diamond is to take it to an experienced diamond expert. They will use their experience and the right equipment to confirm whether it’s a real stone or a fake.