When it comes to diamond jewellery, most of us cannot tell a natural diamond from cubic zirconium, but there are ways that you can tell the difference. If you have a modern diamond, it will have to come with certification to prove its origins and attributes, which helps prevent the sales of diamonds coming from conflict zones and funding wars. However, if you were given the diamond jewellery or it is old, you may not have a certificate to prove where it came from and the quality of the gems.
Below are some quick and easy tests that you can do at home that can help tell you if your diamonds are genuine or not.
Look For The GIA Laser Inscription
When you purchase a pink argyle diamond ring by Nick Ireland or any other type of diamond jewellery, the diamonds come with certificates. So you can identify the diamonds, each stone is laser engraved with a GIA report number, and you can find this on the girdle of the gem. Use your Smartphone camera and zoom in on the diamond till you see the number clearly and write it down. You can then enter the number on the GIA website and see the report for that gem, describing the cut, colour, clarity, and carat weight of the diamond.
Try The Fog Test
You can quickly tell if a diamond is genuine or not by doing the fog test, which is quick and easy and will take only a few seconds. Remove your jewellery and breathe on it till the gems fog up; real diamonds disperse heat incredibly efficiently, which means the fog will clear quickly on genuine diamonds. If it takes three seconds or more for the fog to clear, you do not have a real diamond.
Get A Magnifying Glass
If you have a magnifying glass, you can use this to look at the gems’ internal structure. Almost all diamonds have imperfections in them, which are hard to see with the naked eye. Look for slight inclusions and blemishes in the stone, and when you find them, you can be confident that you have a genuine diamond.
Use A Black Light
You can also use a black light, also known as a UV light (ultraviolet), if you have one at home, and use this to tell if your gems are genuine. Wait until it is dark and turn off any lights and turn your UV light on, you can then hold your gems over the light and see how they react. If you see a yellow, grey, or green fluorescence, your gems are most likely not real. Most diamonds will give off a blue glow, but some diamonds give off no colour at all.
What About Cutting Glass?
It used to be that people would test a diamond by cutting glass or a mirror with it. If it can cut the glass or mirror, it was a genuine diamond. However, with modern technology, you can get Cubic Zirconium, Moissanite, and Black Spinel that can all cut glass, which is why this test is no longer accurate.
