Are you buying new diamonds earring? Or have you inherited a vintage pair of earrings from your grandmother? Either way, we’ll help you make sure the diamonds on your hands are genuine. Diamonds have no competition when it comes to worthiness and grandeur. But, unfortunately, those qualities contribute to the fact that purchasing them is highly stressful since it’s a lifetime investment.
It’s especially challenging when fake diamonds are roaming the market. Luckily, we’ll give you all the information you need about real diamond earrings vs. fake ones, including detailed tests to try out. So let’s jump in!
Key Takeaways
- Distinguishing between real and fake diamonds can be challenging due to the popularity of diamond imitations and the high prices of genuine diamonds.
- Various tests can help identify real diamond earrings when they are mounted, including the Fog Test, Magnifying Glass Test, Scratch Test, Sparkle Test, Mount Test, and Stamp Inside the Ring.
- Consulting a trusted jeweler with specific equipment, like a diamond tester, is a reliable way to verify the authenticity of your diamond, or other stone earrings.
- For loose diamonds, you can use tests like the Water Test, Heat Test, UV Light Test, and Dot Test to determine their authenticity.
- These tests provide valuable tools for consumers to ensure they are getting genuine diamonds and precious metals when purchasing earrings or other diamond jewelry.
Real Diamond Earrings vs. Fake: How to Tell Real Diamond Earrings
The unprecedented popularity of diamonds led many people to produce copycats using less costly materials, like cubic zirconia. Manufacturers also use many diamond alternatives, such as white sapphire and white topaz, and emerald earrings.
The main issue is that people don’t know how to tell the difference. And taking into account the high prices of diamonds, buying a fake would be a big fraud. Finding a good place to buy diamond studs can be challenging if you are not exactly sure where to look and what to look for.
Luckily, there are many tests to tell if a diamond is real. Here’s a brief roundup of some of the experiments you can try for both mounted and loose diamonds.
Mounted Diamonds
If your earrings (see best cartilage hoop earrings) are intact and the diamonds are already mounted, you can try the following tests.
The Fog Test
This test is pretty straightforward and relatively accurate. All you have to do is put the diamond earring in front of your mouth and breathe hot air onto its surface. If it doesn’t fog, then you’re in luck, and your diamond is authentic. However, if it fogs for a few seconds, you have a fake diamond earring.
Natural diamonds disperse heat quickly, so they don’t fog up as easily as fake ones.
The Magnifying Glass Test
Genuine diamonds often have imperfect patterns that people refer to as inclusions. They appear clearly once you look at a diamond using a magnifying glass or a loupe. So, if you look at your diamond studs or earrings and notice that the stone is suspiciously perfect, you might have a fake diamond.
The only condition where this test won’t be accurate is a lab-created diamond or costs a fortune. This is because those are usually flawless diamonds.
The Scratch test
All you’ll need for this test is sandpaper. Once you get it, you should rub the rough side of it against your earring. You don’t need to worry though, if you have a real diamond earring, the sandpaper won’t affect it a bit.
Diamonds are extremely hard, so the mere hardness of sandpaper that records an average of eight on the Mohs scale won’t damage it. That said, if you have a fake diamond, it’ll scratch.
The Sparkle Test
To test a stone’s authenticity, you can see how it refracts and reflects light. For example, fake diamonds reflect light and give off a colored light sparkle. Meanwhile, mined diamonds reflect light in gray tones. Try putting your earring under a sunray or a lamp and see what the reflection will tell you. Of course, if your diamond is stained or tarnished, you will need to clean your diamond earrings using a jewelry cleaning kit or by taking it to a professional jeweler, to make it sparkling again.
The Mount Test
You can tell whether your diamond earring is authentic or not by looking at the mount. Professional jewelers often place natural diamonds in valuable mounts, for example, platinum or gold earrings. Luckily, there’s an apparent visual stamp that you can look at to make sure. For instance, if your stamp shows CZ, you have a cubic zirconia earring. The same goes if you have a diamond ring.
Visit a Jewelry Store
If you don’t want to go through the headache of testing your diamond, gold or silver earrings yourself, you can visit a trusted jeweler. Most jewelers can detect real diamonds and precious metals in no time, and they’ll be more than happy to help. They might even help you free of charge.
The best part is that their results are always accurate because they have specific equipment for such tests. For example, most jewelers own a diamond tester, which is a thermal conductivity probe.
They use it to determine the stone’s thermal conductivity as genuine diamonds are perfect heat conductors that release heat immediately. If they notice a slow heat dispersing rate, you might have some fake stones.
Loose Diamonds
If you’ve removed the diamonds from your pair of earrings (see also best helix earrings), it’ll be much easier for you to tell whether they’re real. Here are the tests you can try out.
The Water Test
You can start with this test as it’s easy and takes no time. Look for a drinking glass and fill most of it with water.
Then, carefully drop your loose diamond inside. If the stone floats at the surface or underneath the water, you own fake diamonds. If it sinks, you’re in luck because real diamonds have high density, so they never float.
It’s worth mentioning that this test isn’t too accurate because not all fake diamonds float.
The Heat Test
Natural diamonds don’t get shattered by heat, while fake ones do. So this test will help you know whether your diamond is genuine by putting the stone under tremendous heat. That said, this test is a bit dangerous, so you should take care while trying it. It’d also be best if you wear proper safety gear.
All you have to do is heat your diamond using a propane torch for nearly 40 seconds. Next, drop it in cold water abruptly. The pressure and expansion will only shatter your diamond if it’s fake.
UV Light Test
If you have a UV lamp, you can try this test to tell if a diamond is real. However, it isn’t highly accurate, so you shouldn’t trust it completely.
To be sure, carry out another test along with it.
Place your loose stone under UV light and see what color it emits. If you have a genuine diamond, it might radiate a blue-colored hue. However, some authentic diamonds don’t emit any color under this light.
The Dot Test
To tell if a diamond is real, you can place a white piece of paper on your desk and draw a dot on it. Next, put your stone, flat side down, onto the paper and look through its other end. Your diamond is real if you fail to see the dot or any reflection. On the other hand, if you see a dot or a circular reflection, then you might have landed a synthetic diamond.
This is because a natural diamond can refract light so powerfully that light rays will move in different directions. As a result, you won’t be able to see anything through it.
Real Diamonds vs. Lab-Created Diamonds
Many people believe that lab-created diamonds are fake; however, they’re as real as mined diamonds. They’re merely manufactured in different conditions. That said, there are some differences that you should know about.
Real diamonds form under coincidental conditions in nature, so they aren’t anywhere near perfect. If you look at them through a loupe, you’ll notice they have many inclusions, while lab-created ones are perfectly symmetrical.
This is because they’re created using specific techniques like chemical vapor deposition. And they take nearly three months to form, while true diamonds may take thousands of years.
Real Diamonds vs. Moissanite
To clear things up, moissanite isn’t among synthetic diamonds. Instead, it’s a naturally occurring stone that resembles diamond significantly. Henri Moissan discovered it inside a meteor, and he thought it was a diamond at first. But, later on, he found out that Moissanite diamonds are mainly made of silicon carbide, not carbon.
Since moissanite stones are too challenging to find in nature, they’re mostly made in labs nowadays. To know the difference between diamond and moissanite, you should put them in front of a lamp and check the colored light they emit. Moissanite stones disperse light twice as much as diamonds, so they often give off rainbow colors. Meanwhile, diamonds emit whiter light.
You can also check the stone’s weight. Diamonds are much heavier than their counterparts, moissanite stones. However, this test may require a visit to a professional jeweler because they often have sensitive weighing scales and know precisely how to carry out the test.
It’s worth mentioning that moissanite stones have the same thermal conductivity qualities as authentic diamonds. As a result, you won’t detect them using a diamond tester.
What Is the Difference Between Real Diamond and Fake Diamond
Diamonds have long captivated our hearts and symbolized love, luxury, and endurance. But in the world of gemstones, not all that sparkles is a genuine diamond. Let’s delve into the key distinctions between real and fake diamonds.
1. Composition: Carbon vs. Simulants
Real Diamond: A genuine natural diamond is formed deep within the Earth’s mantle under extreme pressure and heat. It consists of pure carbon atoms arranged in a crystal lattice structure, giving it its renowned brilliance and hardness.
Fake Diamond (Simulants): Fake diamonds, often referred to as diamond simulants or imitations, are crafted from various materials such as cubic zirconia, moissanite, or glass. These materials may resemble diamonds in appearance but have different chemical compositions and properties.
2. Brilliance and Fire: Scintillation Matters
Real Diamond: Authentic diamonds are renowned for their unparalleled brilliance, fire, and sparkle. This is due to their exceptional ability to refract and disperse light, creating those mesmerizing flashes of color, also known as “fire.”
Fake Diamond (Simulants): While simulants like cubic zirconia and moissanite can exhibit impressive brilliance, they often lack the same fire and sparkle as genuine diamonds. These simulants may appear too perfect or display a different pattern of sparkle, which can be a telltale sign.
3. Hardness: The Mohs Scale Test
Real Diamond: Diamonds score a perfect 10 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, making them the hardest naturally occurring substance on Earth. This remarkable hardness makes diamonds extremely durable and resistant to scratching.
Fake Diamond (Simulants): Simulants are generally less hard than genuine diamonds and can be prone to scratches and wear over time. The Mohs scale can help distinguish between the two by testing their resistance to scratching.
4. Price and Rarity: Genuine Value
Real Diamond: Authentic diamonds, especially those with high-quality characteristics like colorless and internally flawless stones, command a high market value due to their rarity and natural beauty, and which can impact real diamond earrings prices.
Fake Diamond (Simulants): Simulants are widely available and significantly more affordable than real diamonds. While they can mimic the appearance of diamonds, they lack the intrinsic value and rarity associated with genuine diamonds.
Overall, understanding the difference between real and fake diamonds is essential when making a significant investment in diamond jewelry. While stimulants may offer a budget-friendly alternative, nothing quite compares to the enduring allure and value of a genuine diamond. It’s always advisable to seek the expertise of a certified gemologist or jeweler when in doubt, as they can provide accurate assessments and certifications for your precious gemstones.
FAQs – Real Diamond Earrings vs Fake
How to Tell if Diamond Earrings Are Real or Fake?
There are various ways to test the authenticity of diamond earrings, but a simple method is the fog test. Breathe on the diamond and observe how long it takes for the fog to dissipate.
How to Tell if A Diamond Earring Is Real with A Flashlight?
Checking a diamond’s authenticity with a flashlight is easy. Real diamonds reflect spectral rays, while fake ones do not. Hold the diamond in the path of white light; if it splits into colors as it exits the stone, it’s likely real.
Do They Put Fake Diamonds in Real Gold?
Some jewelers might use fake diamonds in real gold settings, which is why choosing a reputable jeweler is crucial. However, most real diamonds are set in precious metals like yellow gold, white gold, or platinum.
Do Real Diamonds Reflect Sunlight?
Absolutely! Real diamonds reflect various colors when exposed to sunlight.
Do Real Diamonds Reflect Rainbow?
Yes, a real diamond will sparkle in shades of gray and white on the inside, while also reflecting a rainbow of colors onto other surfaces.
Do Lab Created Diamonds Fog Up?
No, real diamonds fog up slightly, but the condensation evaporates quickly. Lab-created diamonds generally won’t fog up in the same way.
To Wrap up On Fake vs Real Diamond Erarings
There are many ways that you can use to tell whether your diamond is real or not. We all know how bad it is of a feeling to flaunt the precious diamonds on your earrings only to find later on that they’re fake. To avoid going through this situation, you can try out the fog test, the heat test, or look through your diamond using a loupe or a magnifying glass.
