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Detecting Diamond Simulants:

Perhaps the biggest challenge a diamond buyer faces is that they can not tell the difference between a diamond and a diamond look-alike.  Quite often people getting ask us "How do I know that this isn't a CZ?"  Which would be acceptable if it wasn't asked in an accusatory manner.  The question of whether a diamond is real or not might be better presented and accepted if it was stated as "How can I tell the difference between a diamond and a simulant?"

Let's face it, everybody has heard stories about people who take diamond rings into jewelry stores for repair and later discover that their diamond has been replaced by a cubic zirconia (CZ).  What can we say?  We're not living in utopia and the diamond industry has it's share of scumbags.  The reality however is that the majority of our industry wouldn't dream of switching a simulant for your diamond and several reasonable explanations exist for the rumors:

• Most people do not clean their jewelry on a regular basis and have grown accustomed to what it looks like dirty.  Quite often people simply don't recognize their diamond when they pick it up and therefore assume that the jeweler switched it.   Understand that before jewelry may be worked on or appraised, it must be cleaned.   Even if you cleaned it before you brought it in, it will look cleaner and possibly whiter when it is returned because the solvents that we have access to are far more effective than jewelry cleaners and household cleaners that are available to the public.   In addition, the jewelry item has usually been polished and because much of our work is done with a torch, any residual dirt or film may have been burned off (or baked on for that matter).
  

• Many customers have inherited or received jewelry as a gift and may not know exactly what they have.  We recently sold a gentlemen a diamond to replace the CZ in his wife's wedding set...  She had worn it for years without knowing that her "diamond" was a simulant, but he couldn't afford to buy her what she wanted when they got engaged and had been too embarrassed to tell her...  So we helped him "upgrade" her center stone... Placing the shoe on the other foot, sometimes the public will try to pass off what they know to be a simulant as a diamond - and then accuse a jewelry store of switching stones. A h yes, the pendulum swings both ways...
  

• Many jewelers and jewelry manufacturers use imitation diamonds in their settings for display and samples for traveling sales people.  Although it is quite rare, it is possible for one of these items to get mixed up with "live goods" and be inadvertently passed on to the public.
  

• Likewise, if a jeweler happens to be working on a piece of diamond jewelry while diamond simulants are on his bench, it is possible for a simulant to be accidentally mounted in place of the diamond.

As stated previously, the majority of our industry consists of honest, hard-working people who wouldn't dream of switching your diamond for a simulant.   However, for your peace of mind, we're going to cover some of the ways you can, and can't, separate real diamonds from fakes.  But first, let's define various terms that may seem to be synonymous to the public, but stand for different things within the industry:

1. Simulant or Imitation:  Any gem-like material, either natural or artificial, which is marketed as look-alikes for natural gems.  Historically, diamond look-alikes have included glass, zircon, and white sapphire.  Modern diamond look-alikes include YAG (yttrium aluminum garnet), GGG (gadolinium gallium garnet), and synthetic cubic zirconia (CZ).
   

2. Artificial:  is a general term for any gem material made by man.
   

3. Synthetic:  is a man-made reproduction of a natural gem material which has essentially the same chemical composition, crystal structure, optical and physical properties as the original.  Laboratory grown rubies, emeralds, and sapphires, are examples of popular synthetic gems.

You need to understand these terms when you buy jewelry in order to prevent misunderstandings.  For example, a common Mother's Day gift is a birthstone ring that includes a representative birthstone for the month that each of the children were born.  The key word here is "birthstone" which in our industry refers to a simulant or imitation.

My dad once bought several pairs of birthstone earrings for my mom (while I was still in high school) and was absolutely outraged several years later when I appraised them as glass.  At first it was difficult for my father to believe that a reputable store had sold him glass instead of the real thing.  However, upon locating his receipt and discovering that it reflected his purchase as "genuine birthstone earrings" it became clear to him that it was a matter of semantics and that the store had fulfilled its legal obligation through proper wording that was simply not clear to a lay person and not properly explained by the sales person.

It is important to realize that anyone can be fooled by an imitation.  Even experienced jewelers have been known to mistake simulants for diamonds, such mistakes can be quite costly both in terms of dollars and reputation.   Smart jewelers take the time to inspect and test jewelry that is brought in for repair before leaving the customers presence.  Smart customers take the time to inspect their jewelry with the assistance of the store clerk when they pick it up from being repaired...  Neither the store owner, nor the customer, should assume the identity of a gem stone and neither should be offended by the other's attempts to verify the stone's identity.

A diamond's internal and external characteristics are like it's fingerprint, no two diamonds will have the exact same characteristics.  We teach our clients to gauge their diamond and draw a picture ("map") of it's internal characteristics whenever they drop off a piece of jewelry to be repaired or cleaned.   The store owner or manager should verify the diamonds measurements and characteristics in the customers presence and then initial the repair envelope to confirm that they are both seeing the same things.

Upon pick up, the customer should verify the stone's identity by comparing it to the dimensions and characteristics noted on the repair envelope.  If they do not match, do not cause a scene.  Simply ask to speak to the owner or manager and calmly point out that you believe there has been a mix up.   If a manager or store owner is not available, leave the repaired item at the store and request that you be contacted as soon as they return.  If you leave the store with your property and return later expecting to resolve the problem, you will be hard pressed to do so because you have removed the stone in question from the stores presence and they will no longer be responsible for it.

Ultimately you will enjoy owning and shopping for jewelry far more if you learn to quickly separate diamonds from their man-made look-alikes.   After all, you want to feel confident about your purchase and not be troubled with feelings of doubt every time you look at a piece of jewelry.  Ideally you should be able to look at a stone and quickly determine if it is a diamond or a simulant, gemologists call this "making a separation" and thankfully with a little practice you can learn to do it quite easily.

Diamonds have an overall look that simulants imitate, but are unable to perfectly duplicate.  The fire, brilliance, and luster of a diamond are distinctive features not present in diamond look-alikes.  As you look at diamonds and become more familiar with their characteristics, you will be less likely to be fooled by diamond imitations.  If the stone that you are looking at has bearding, a frosted girdle, or included crystals inside of it, odds are that it's a diamond.

Despite all the hoopla about how cubic zirconia's look just like diamonds, and how this or that newest imitation will fool even the best experts, the fact is that there are distinct differences that can be easily detected when the stone is examined closely under magnification.

Here is a photograph of the inside of a new cubic zirconia, shown here under 20x magnification.  Most cubic zirconia's exhibit these white abraded facet lines which in this picture travel from the center point towards the outer edge of the stone.  TRJ Photo.

Note, abraded facet lines can also appear on diamonds, and are just an indicator that the stone requires further investigation before being labeled.  A lay person might mistake the white spots scattered within the stone pictured above to be inclusions inside of a diamond, however, under higher magnification you would discover that they are actually tiny gas bubbles trapped within the stone.

Notice that this diamond has a crisper appearance when viewed under the same lighting conditions and magnification as the CZ pictured above.  The diamonds crisp facets, superior polish, and unique brilliance make it easy to separate it from the simulant.  TRJ Photo.

Don't be afraid to ask to see a diamond and a CZ under magnification so that you may compare their differences, it's the only way you'll learn to separate them from each other.

Another key factor in separating diamond from simulant is the weight of the stone.  A CZ weighs approximately twice that of a diamond, so if you're looking at a stone that appears to be a one carat stone in size and it weighs approximately 1.80 carats you have reasonable cause to be concerned.

Another thing to consider is the price of the item in comparison to other diamonds you have seen.  If the price seems to be unbelievable, it probably is. Remember my dad who paid about $27- a pair for the birthstone earrings he purchased at the department store.  He had seen a pair of earrings earlier in a jewelry store that looked just like the one's he purchased, but they wanted about two hundred dollars a pair for their earrings.

Some jewelry stores have invested in a thermal tester or diamond probe which can be quite helpful in determining a gems identity when it is used in conjunction with standard gemological practices.  By placing the tip of the diamond probe on the stone's surface it is possible to quickly determine the stone's identity based upon it's thermal inertia.  The thermal inertia of a diamond is distinctly different than that of any simulant and therefore the test is quite reliable.  It is important to note that temperature can affect the test result and therefore the stone being tested should be at room temperature in order to obtain an accurate reading. Diamond probes can be purchased by clicking on the "Gem Tools For Sale" button below.

Things you don't want to do to separate diamonds from simulants are "scratch tests" on the diamond's surface and attempting to scratch glass.  Here's a "press release" for those of you who believe that diamond is the hardest substance on earth...  Actually it's the hardest mineral substance on earth...  Diamonds can be scratched, chipped, and split in half...  If you try hard enough, you can even scratch the surface of a diamond with a pop-top from an aluminum soda can. You can chip or crack a diamond trying to cut glass with it if you happen to apply pressure along its grain lines... So don't do it!

While we're on the subject of what not to do, we know that eventually you're going to hear wives tales about how ball point pens will write on CZ's but not on diamonds... or how you can read a newspaper through a simulant, but not through a diamond... All we can tell you is that these so-called "tests" are pretty unreliable and if we were in your shoes we wouldn't risk thousands of dollars on a long shot.

May we help you find the diamond of your dreams?
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