Most people need clarification about how to tell if the diamond is real or fake. To find out this problem, most people seek the help of professionals in a jewelry shop. But you don’t require any technical knowledge to find real diamonds. It is simple, and you can do such procedures at home itself. You need some simple things available at home to find the real diamond.
How to Tell If A Diamond is Real or Fake at Home?
- Fog Test
It is a simple test that easily determines whether the diamond is real. You can hold the diamond between two fingers and try to breathe in it with air. Now, light fog will form on the diamond due to heat and moisture in the breath.
Here comes the procedure on how to tell if a diamond is real or not. Diamonds are the best heat conductors, and thus, heat should disperse from them soon. If you find the moisture sits on the diamond for fewer seconds and dissipates away soon, then it is a real diamond. But it will likely be a fake diamond if the fog doesn’t disperse after several seconds.
- Water Test
Again here comes the simple test of whether a diamond is real or not. Take one normal size drinking glass and fill the water ¾ of the glass. Now, drop the diamond stone carefully into the water glass and see the result. If the diamond sinks in the water, it will be real. But if the gemstone floats and reaches down to the water’s surface, it will be a fake diamond. Generally, a real diamond has a high density, so the water test proves it to be a real or fake gemstone.
- Check Setting & Mount
Sometimes, you want to test the diamond placed in a ring. You must consider the setting and mount type used in such a situation. Because of the precious diamond stone, it will be mounted in high-quality jewelry. For instance, jewelers will mount the real diamond in materials like
- Gold
- Platinum
- Yellow Gold
- Pave setting
- Halo setting
- Side-stone setting
Moreover, you can look into the setting and read any markings inside the ring’s center. For example, you will see the markings to be 10K, 14K, etc., all of which indicate the gold type used. If you find the markings PT, it will refer to Platinum. Sometimes, you may notice numbers like 585, 900, 770, or 950 on the jewel, which means platinum or gold.
- UV Light Test
You can place the diamond under UV light and see the reaction. It is the best indicator to identify whether the diamond is real. Under UV light, most diamonds emit a blue-colored glow; you can’t see this in all diamonds. So, if your diamond glows in such a way, you can confirm it to be the real diamond.
Testing Diamond Using Refractivity at Home
- The Dot Test
This is an excellent test to check the diamond is real. In this process, place a piece of white paper on a flat surface. Then, use a pen to draw a small dot and place the gemstone on the dot. Ensure that you place the diamond’s flat side onto the dot. Now, watch through the pointed end of the diamond to see the paper. When you notice a circular reflection, the diamond is not real. When you don’t see any reflection in the diamond, it is a real diamond.
Moreover, this test is based on the refractive properties of the diamond. According to that, the light will bounce in various directions but not in a straight line. Thus, this is the reason that one can’t see letters or dots through a real diamond.
- Newspaper or Read-Through Effect
Another best way to test whether the diamond is real is by using the newspaper. It is an easy test where you need to place the diamond flat surface facing down on the newspaper’s letters. There should be proper lighting, and no hazards should disturb the diamond.
After placing the diamond, check whether you can read the newspaper’s letters through it. With real diamonds, it is impossible to read letters. This is because of its property to refract the light in several directions but not in a straight line. Due to the refraction of light, one couldn’t see through the diamond and read the letters.
Testing Diamond Using Reflectivity at Home
- Sparkle Test
This test is simple, as you don’t require any equipment except your eyes. Here, you need to hold the diamond under a normal lamp simply. Now, check how the light reflects from the stone. Even you may see colorful light reflections in the diamond.
So, in a real diamond, you can see a wonderful white light reflecting from the gem. Also, diamonds reflect colorful light from which you can understand that the diamond is real.
Expert Techniques to Test The Diamond is Real
- Using A Loupe
Loupe is equipment that most professionals use to find real diamonds and gemstones. When they see through this loupe, they will get some imperfections in a fake diamond. But with a real diamond, this is not the case.
- Using A Thermal Conductivity Probe
In addition to the above equipment, most professionals use this meter to find real diamond. Since diamonds are good heat conductors, they will release the heat soon after it is warmed. When the gemstone releases heat slowly, then the diamond is fake. Similar to this probe, professionals use different diamond testers to find the real diamond.
The Bottom Line
This article gives you some useful information about how to tell if a diamond is real or not. All the above methods are easy, and one can do such tasks at home.
Also read: Lab Created Diamonds vs. Mined Diamonds
