How to Test a Diamond to See if it is Real
Diamonds are precious, not just because of monetary value, but because of sentimental value or the cultural associations with everlasting love. Rather than spend years admiring a ring you've been given, or worse, give a piece of jewelry you've been led to believe is real, check it for authenticity, yourself. It could spare you heartbreak years down the road.
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Instructions
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Use an edge on a cut diamond and gently but firmly press it against a piece of glass and drag it as if you're drawing a line. Real diamonds will scratch glass. Be careful, though, because scratching glass or anything against a diamond can damage the diamond. It's true that diamonds are extremely hard, but with minor defects like hairline fractures, diamonds are still susceptible to damage.
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Overlay your diamond and a fake face down over some newsprint. You shouldn't be able to read newsprint through an upside-down diamond the way you can through a fake. This test doesn't always work, though, because if the diamond is cut shallow, the newsprint might still be legible.
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Breathe on your diamond like you would if you were trying to fog up a window. If the diamond stays fogged for more than two seconds after breathing on it, it's a fake. Diamonds are dense enough to distribute temperature quickly and don't hold a fog from breath. Unfortunately, this doesn't work on dirty diamonds or on diamonds with oil, so be sure to clean it thoroughly first. This test might also give false positive results on two stones that have been glued together if the surface stone is a real diamond.
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Place two stones the same size on a scale. The two stones won't weigh the same if one is a diamond and the other is a cubic zirconia. The cubic zirconia will weigh about 55 percent more.
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Shine ultraviolet light on a diamond. A blue shine indicates a diamond. If you don't see blue, you either have a valuable diamond (in the top 20 percent) or a fake. This test doesn't positively identify fake diamonds since it's possible that the stone is either fake or real and high quality, but it does positively identify the majority of real diamonds.
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Check the edges. They should be sharp and not rolled.
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Check for small cracks or specks inside the stone. It's hard to put inclusions into stones, so if you find them there, it's probably not a fake.
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