You don't need a diamond detective to keep you from getting scammed at the jewelry counter. If you're a first-time diamond buyer, you've probably asked yourself how to know if a diamond is real and wondered what the hacks for spotting real or fake ones are. While a professional appraisal is the only way to get a 100% guarantee, there are a handful of ways you can check a diamond's authenticity yourself.
How to Spot a Fake Diamond: 9 Tests & Tips
Whether you're picking out an engagement ring or have a family heirloom you think might be worth insuring, knowing how to spot a fake diamond will come in handy. These are our favorite tests and tricks to pluck out the fake diamonds from the real ones.
Know Your Four Cs
People who know how to judge diamond quality by the four Cs — color, cut, carat, and clarity as defined by the Gemological Institute of America — are less likely to be fooled by false gems. Knowing your four Cs will give you a solid educational foundation that a clever salesman won't be able to overcome.
Work With Reputable Jewelers
A well-respected jeweler who can answer detailed questions is less likely to be involved with fake diamonds and shady deals. The more forthcoming a jeweler is about where the diamonds were sourced and their quality, the greater the chance that they're being honest.
Check Setting Quality
Diamonds are expensive gems, and true diamonds are typically placed properly into their settings. If a diamond ring's setting is crooked, loose, or poorly crafted, the stone may be less valuable than advertised. If the craftsman was willing to cut corners on the materials or construction, they could very well have cut even more with the "diamonds" being used.
A jeweler's loupe is a great tool for examining a diamond's quality and imperfections. Don't have a loupe? A strong magnifying glass will work in a pinch.
Perform a Fog Test
Diamonds disperse heat rapidly and a light huff of breath on the stone should only briefly fog it up. That cloudy condensation should vanish almost instantly. Fake diamonds may stay fogged for a few seconds longer than the real ones.
Check for Damage
Diamonds are very durable gems, peaking at the top of the Mohs Hardness Scale with a 10 ranking. While they're not impervious to surface damage, a stone that shows a lot of nicks, scuffs, scratches, or other damage is less likely to be a real diamond because of this extreme hardness level.
Investigate the Reflection Color
Because of the diamond's refraction index, the reflection and sparkles within the stone should appear in shades of gray. According to Business Insider, stones that have rainbow reflections are likely not genuine diamonds.
Perform a Transparency Test
Diamonds shouldn't be truly transparent. Turn any loose diamonds upside down over a newspaper or sheet of paper with printed words on it. With real diamonds, you can't easily read the text through the stone because of this lack of true transparency. If you can read the text, the "diamond" doesn't have the proper light dispersion properties that real diamonds possess.
Check for Ultraviolet Light Glow
About 30% of diamonds will glow blue under ultraviolet (UV) lights (such as black lights). On the other hand, fake diamonds may glow other colors or not at all under UV light. While an extremely high-quality gem won't glow under UV light, this can be a good secondary test for questionable stones if you already have concerns.
Look for Imperfections
Any natural stone will have some minute flaws and inclusions. Closely examine any gem that appears perfectly flawless. Flawless real diamonds do exist and are often lab-created, but pricing can be a useful indicator of whether it's a genuine artificial diamond or a fake. Really low-cost perfect diamonds are probably not as genuine as they seem.
While examining your diamond, check the girdle for an identification number. Some designer diamond shapes will have tiny ID numbers inscribed along the girdle.
Related: 6 Tips for Buying Jewelry as a Gift (That They'll Actually Love)
4 Common Diamond Dupes (& How to Spot Them)
Diamonds are incredibly popular and the demand makes them rife for duplicating. In many cases, similar stones can be passed off as diamonds thanks to their similar quality. As always, it's good to familiarize yourself with the competition. In this case, it's these diamond dupes.
Cubic Zirconia
This is a common lower-cost substitute for diamonds because it has many of the same properties as real diamonds. However, it's substantially heavier -- weighing as much as 55% more than real diamonds.
Moissanite
This rare mineral looks very similar to the real thing, though it's substantially more expensive to buy. Even jewelers have a hard time telling the stones apart! However, moissanite has radically different chemical and physical properties from diamonds, resulting in rainbow refractory qualities that look quite different from the grayish refractory of a diamond.
White Topaz
White topaz is a cheaper but less common alternative to diamond. It shares a similar quality and color to diamond, though it typically lacks the intense sparkle and is less hard than diamonds at a 8/10 on the Mohs Hardness Scale.
Did you know that diamond and white topaz share the top spot for April's birthstone?
Crystal
Faceted crystal can be a lovely diamond alternative, but it lacks the durability and beauty of the coveted gemstone. According to the Diamond Authority, crystal doesn't have the brilliance and sparkle of diamonds. Crystal rings may be very cheap which can be a big draw, but the lower quality makes them a poor investment.
Professional Appraisals Can Authenticate & Certify Your Diamonds
While there are several simple at-home tests for how to spot a fake diamond, the only way to certify your diamond is with a professional appraisal. An independent, professional appraisal by a certified and experienced gemologist is the single best way to tell the difference between real and fake diamonds.
A gemologist can examine a stone in many ways unavailable to consumers, and they can issue a report on their judgment of the diamond's quality and value. An appraiser will do thermal, weight, and fluorescence tests on the gem to certify its composition and value. And they can provide a certificate of the gem's authenticity that can be valuable for insurance purposes. Keep in mind that professional appraisals with certification are never free.
Not sure if an appraiser you're talking with is properly certified? Run their name through the GIA's (Gemological Institute of America) Alumni Directory.
Don't Be Duped By a Fake Diamond
Figuring out if a diamond is real or fake isn't as difficult as it sounds. Sure, there are professional tests that can give you a level of assurance that at-home ones can't. But, with the right know-how, anyone can avoid getting duped by a shiny fake diamond.
