Another optical trait of the diamond is their mirror-like effect. Unlike glass, which allows the light to penetrate it and “move on”, diamonds break light rays that penetrate them. This quality creates a mirror-like effect – light bouncing back to the viewer, which keeps him from looking “through” the diamond.
We all love how a diamond shines in the sunlight. Test your stone by putting it in direct sunlight and examining the colors it reflects. A real diamond will reflect both rainbow colors as well as white light. If you only get one of the two, then the diamond isn't real.
This involves taking the diamond and attempting to scratch a mirror. If it leaves a mark on the mirror, it's a real diamond. However, the quality of false stones like cubic zirconia and moissanite has increased, and many can pass this test due to their durability.
The way that diamonds reflect light is unique: the inside of a real diamond should sparkle gray and white while the outside should reflect a rainbow of colors onto other surfaces. A fake diamond, on the other hand, will have rainbow colors that you can see inside the diamond as well.
A real diamond of decent quality will refract light so intensely that you can't see through it. On the other hand, cubic zirconia is more transparent, and you'll be able to see right through it.
If you're holding a genuine diamond, you'll witness an intense blue color on the diamond surface. A fake gemstone will reveal itself through other colors — including green, yellow, or gray tints. The validity of this test is limited, though.
Genuine diamonds do not sparkle in rainbow colors inside of the stone. Instead, the inside of real diamonds sparkles in tones white and gray. The play on light in the diamond is brilliance. One factor that determines a diamond's level of brilliance is the cut.
To start off right: a diamond itself does not shine, it reflects light which gives them their beautiful sparkle. This has three main causes: internal reflection, refraction, and dispersion.
Do diamonds glow in the dark? Yes, diamonds can glow in the dark due to fluorescence, and you can only see this blue light under ultra-violet (UV) light. Around 30% of diamonds have this natural fluorescence feature.
There is nothing that can scratch a diamond except another diamond. A mineral like talc, on the other hand, is a 1 on the scale. You could scratch it with any hard material, even your fingernail. Natural talc is one of the softest minerals in the world.
An ideal cut diamond shows only a few intensely bright flashes in direct sunlight. A diamond that actually looks good in sunlight splits those few flashes up into ten or twenty smaller sparkles.
A pure and natural diamond is known to produce a blue glow when exposed to black light. The impure ones have certain chemical impurities that trigger the glow of other colors like green, white, red, and yellow when diamonds are exposed to ultraviolet light.
A fake diamond will have rainbow colors that you can see inside the diamond. “People have a misconception that diamonds sparkle like a rainbow, but they don't,” Hirsch said. “They do sparkle, but it's more of a gray color.
A dirty stone doesn't sparkle because light simply can't enter the diamond and causes it to appear dull. So, if you notice your diamond jewelry getting cloudier overtime, it's likely due to a dirty surface and there's an easy fix to restore their luster.
Diamonds are dense and will sink quickly, while certain imitations will sink more slowly. If your gem doesn't immediately sink to the bottom, it's likely a glass or quartz imitation.
Ultraviolet Light: About 30% of diamonds will glow blue under ultraviolet lights such as black light. Fake diamonds, on the other hand, will glow other colors or not at all.
We normally think of fine diamonds as being perfectly transparent, brilliant, and sparkly. But sometimes we see diamonds that look cloudy, hazy or dull. Problems with the diamond's transparency may be the culprit and can result from several different causes.
Refraction and dispersion are the reasons why the light ray travels through the diamond. Diamond acts like a tiny complicated prism through which the light ray travels at different angles and gives a shiny appearance.
Simulated diamonds are also known as diamond simulants and include things like cubic zirconia (CZ), moissanite, and YAG. They can also include some natural clear gemstones like white sapphire, white zircon or even clear quartz.
Colorless diamonds. The majority of mined diamonds fall between white and pale yellow or brown; what is known as the normal color range. Diamonds of more intense color (usually yellow, but in some cases red, green or blue) are termed fancy color diamonds. Black diamonds are also fancy color diamonds.
Gold is heavier than diamonds but since we're working solely off of the weight the equation becomes a relatively simple one. What is gold's price per gram?
Does it Fog Up? The easiest at-home test is to breathe on your stone. If your stone fogs up quite a bit and takes time for the condensation to evaporate, then it is most likely fake. Real diamonds do fog up, but only a little and the condensation evaporates quickly.
Purchase a cheap piece of corundum or buy a mineral testing kit that includes corundum. Hold the corundum firmly against a table and scrape the suspected diamond against the corundum. If it creates a visible scratch, the crystal is a diamond. If it doesn't create a scratch, then it is a different mineral.