How to test if the diamond is real?
Diamonds are a girl’s best friend. They are a valuable investments and a worthy possession. Whether loose or studded in jewelry, diamonds are loved in every form. They are so popular that everyone wants them to be a part of his/her collection. This has resulted in the proliferation of imitation crystals which are exact lookalike of real diamonds. The imitation crystals like CZ, Moissanite and glass are many times sold by the name of diamond and those who have no knowledge about diamonds usually buy them on heavy prices. It’s a worrying factor and demands some methods that hand a new buyer a convenience to judge the authenticity of his/her investment. To ease the buyers there are few tests which could be conducted to check if the stone they have purchased is a real diamond or a fake crystal.
Scratch Test
The oldest diamond test is scratch test according to which a diamond can scratch a glass. Diamond being the hardest is known for cutting glass. But this test is risky and now not as authentic as it was earlier. With the evolution of technology there are many fake diamonds or crystals which can scratch a glass, reducing the authenticity of the test. It is also not to try this test as it may chip or break the stone and if it is a real diamond it would be a big loss.
Transparency Test
This test is to check a loose diamond. Flip the diamond upside down and place it on a piece of printed paper. If you can read through the diamond then it is probably not a real diamond because real diamonds doesn’t allow seeing through it. But in case of too shallow cut diamonds the chances are that you can read through it. So this means you have to move to the next method because accuracy is demanded in diamond testing.
Fog Test
It is another test you can conduct at your own. Hold the diamond in front of your mouth and fog it as you fog a mirror. If it is a real diamond it will instantly disperse the heat and remain clear. But if the surface stays foggy for few seconds then the diamond is not real. The limitation of this test is that if your diamond is not cleaned properly or has dust cloud the fog might stay longer resulting in no conclusion.
Weight Test
This test compares the stone on the basis of weight. It’s a well known fact that a Cubic Zirconium of same shape, size and dimension weighs approximately 55% more than a diamond. So bring a CZ and place it on a gram scale along with your stone and check which way the scale tips.
Ultra-Violet Test
A number of diamonds exhibit blue fluorescence under UV light which is an indication of them being real. To check if your stone is real place it under UV light and check the color of the fluorescence. If it shows blue fluorescence then it is a diamond but of lower quality. So again we have a drawback of the method because if a stone is not showing blue fluorescence then chances are that it might be a better quality diamond. And if it exhibits green or yellow fluorescence it may be a Moissanite.
X-ray Test
Real diamonds are radiolucent and don’t show up on an X-ray while imitation or fake diamonds are radiopaque. So this is another test to examine the real diamond.
Loop Test
If you have a jeweler’s loop or magnifying glass then use it to inspect the specific characteristics of the stone which would include the arrangement of the facets and appearance of girdle.
These are the few common methods that could be used to test a diamond. But as these are not up to the mark it is suggested to get the stone checked and examined by a professional .
Have a look on this video, how to do this all?