Even though natural diamonds are very expensive, people still love them and have been actively buying them. Due to the popularity of natural diamonds, many unscrupulous businessmen have found it profitable. They produce fake diamonds by using other cheap materials for technological processing. Under the banner of selling natural diamonds, the fake diamonds are handed over to the customers to make ill-gotten gains. In order to help people from being cheated and buy real natural diamonds, this article provides some ways to buy and identify diamonds.
Quality of Diamonds
When you want to buy a natural diamond, you first need to understand what you can accept for the price of the diamond; the price of a natural diamond is determined by different qualities. Understanding what determines the quality of a diamond can help you choose what value you want for a natural diamond.
- Carat: the weight/size of the diamond, the larger the carat the more expensive the diamond is
- Cut: the quality of the cut affects the brilliance of the diamond, a poorly cut diamond does not have brilliant brilliance.
- Color: Diamonds grade from colorless to light yellow or brown, the purer the color the more expensive the diamond.
- Clarity: Diamonds with internal or external flaws, if any, will have an impact on the price.
Diamond Identification Methods
1. The simple “scratch method
Diamond is the hardest natural material, diamond can scratch any other gemstone, but no other gemstone can scratch diamond. Therefore, if you have other discarded or cheap gemstones made of bad material, you can scratch them with your newly bought natural diamond. If there are scratches, it means that your natural gemstone is probably genuine. A more scientific method is to scratch them with a “standard hardness tester”. A hardness of less than 9 degrees is a fake diamond. In addition, according to the fact that diamonds are lipophilic. You can randomly choose a carving knife from engraving tools and scratch a line on the surface of the diamond, if this line is continuous it is a real natural diamond.
2. The use of stereo microscope
The stereo microscope is a professional jewelry appraisal instrument that can be purchased and used by ordinary people. The stereo microscope has a magnifying glass that magnifies 10 times. By placing the purchased stone under the 10x magnification, you can see most of the structure of the diamond as well as some inclusions and flaws. If you observe triangular growth lines on the diamond and “red, orange and blue” flames on the surface of the diamond, then it is a true natural diamond.
3. Using a thermal conductivity meter
The most accurate and reliable method is to use a “Thermal Conductivity Meter”, which can measure the thermal conductivity data of a prepared diamond to help you accurately distinguish between real and fake diamonds. However, this method is not recommended for the general public because thermal conductivity meters are expensive and not as cost-effective as a stereo microscope.
Distinguishing Fake Diamonds
We also need to know what materials are used by unscrupulous traders to fake natural diamonds. Knowing the different counterfeit materials can help us accurately distinguish what is different between a fake diamond and a real diamond, and avoid making mistakes. The common fake diamonds are as follows:
1. Zircon
It is the best substitute for diamonds, because its appearance and material are closest to diamonds, and ordinary people basically cannot see the difference with their naked eyes. The only feasible way is to borrow a professional instrument. According to the zircon has the characteristics of polarization and great birefringence, using a stereo microscope to magnify and observe the prismatic surface of processed zircon, looking down from the top side, you can see that the prismatic line at the bottom of the zircon has an obvious double shadow, which will not be the case with diamonds.
2. Glass
The method of identifying fake diamonds made of glass is very simple, just put the diamond into water. If it sinks quickly in the water and does not reflect any light, then it is a fake diamond made of glass. Because glass has a very low refractive index, it does not have the multi-colored brilliance of diamonds.
3. Soviet Diamond
Because it was first developed by the Soviet Union so called the Soviet diamond, alias cubic zirconia. Soviet diamond belongs to man-made diamonds, although its dispersion, refractive index and natural diamonds are very close to each other, but also can be refracted diamonds like the flame color. But its hardness index is 8.5, natural diamond hardness index are above 9, so ordinary people can use “scratch method” to distinguish. Professional identification can be based on its thermal conductivity is much lower than the characteristics of the diamond, the use of “thermal conductivity meter” for accurate identification.
4. Crystal
Crystal is a natural mineral transparent crystals, after processing and diamond appearance is very similar. But the color refractive index of crystal is also very low, simple use of stereo microscope observation, you will find that the crystal made of fake diamonds dull.If you are unsure of your observations, you can purchase stereo microscope accessories and assemble the parts to improve accuracy.
Conclusion
The above methods can well help people identify the difference between natural diamonds and fake diamonds, so that you can buy the natural diamonds you want. Of course, if in the end you are not very sure of your own identification results, you can finally ask a professional treasure connoisseur identification or sent to the authority of the jewelry appraisal institutions for identification.
