Diamond jewelry is considered one of the most expensive. However, unscrupulous sellers often try to sell jewelry by replacing natural stones with artificial or non-precious ones. In order not to be deceived and not to buy an expensive fake, it is important to know how to distinguish a diamond from cubic zirconia in a ring or other accessory.
Main Features
A diamond is a stone of natural origin, which is obtained by processing a diamond. Each of them has a strictly defined number of faces - a total of 57. It is this number that refracts light rays as much as possible, thanks to which the stone incredibly shimmers and shines.
Since a diamond is one of the most durable natural formations, even with a strong mechanical or physical impact, the diamond is not scratched.
On average, the cost of one stone weighing 1 carat ranges from 50 to 500 thousandrubles. The price largely depends on its purity. Since it is high in any case, people are interested in the question of how to distinguish a diamond from cubic zirconia in a ring or other jewelry. These can be earrings, sashes, pendants, pendants, and more.
Fianite is a stone of artificial origin, which was invented by Soviet scientists. The crystal is grown in laboratory conditions. It is transparent, but with the help of various additives at the production stage, it acquires any desired shade. At first glance, it is quite difficult to distinguish it from a diamond. However, a closer look reveals several inconsistencies. Further in the article, we will consider how cubic zirconia differs from a diamond in appearance.
When evaluating the cost of a piece of jewelry, this stone is almost never taken into account, only the weight of the precious metal is taken into account. However, cubic zirconia should not be discounted. It is widely used in the manufacture of jewelry. The main advantage of the stone is that it can imitate almost all precious minerals.
How the stones differ
At first glance, one can state the fact that cubic zirconia is similar to a diamond, it is rather difficult for a non-professional to distinguish them from each other, but possible. There are many ways to check the authenticity of a stone. Some of them can be used right before purchase in the store or at home.
Let's look at the properties that you should pay attention to when comparing:
- Stone carefullyviewed in jewelry. If there are small scratches on it, the shine in the shade is less bright, blotches may occur - this is most likely a diamond. Such properties are explained by its natural origin.
- Hardness. To test it, a sharp movement of the stone is carried over the glass. The diamond will leave a clear trace behind itself, while it will not suffer. In turn, cubic zirconia may not be able to cope with the glass surface and will scratch or crack itself. Although this method may not work. But if you run a diamond across a cubic zirkonia, a scratch will remain.
- Clearance. This verification method is suitable for large instances. To do this, the stone is brought to the rays of daylight. If it is real, the rays will not pass through it - only a cloudy dot can be seen through the diamond.
- Temperature. Another express way to distinguish an artificial stone from a natural one is to hold it in the palm of your hand. The first heats up quickly from the warmth of the hands, while the second always remains slightly cool.
- Par. If you breathe on the stones, the cubic zirconia will fog up, and the diamond will remain clean.
- Shape. Experienced jewelers know how to visually distinguish a diamond from cubic zirconia. You just need to look at the copy. Since a diamond is created by nature, it has slight roughness, while cubic zirconia, on the contrary, has a perfectly smooth surface and slightly smoothed ribs.
- Stickiness. A rather interesting way to check the naturalness of a stone is to drop a little oil on it and attach it to the glass with the largest side. The diamond will easily stick, but the cubic zirconia will fall.
- Transparency. If you dip the purest diamond into a glass filled with water and look at it from the side, the stone will not be visible.
Next, let's take a closer look at how to distinguish a diamond from cubic zirconia in a ring or other piece of jewelry.
Transparency score
To distinguish a diamond from a cubic zirconia in a ring that was given a long time ago or inherited, just look at the product with the naked eye. Natural stones will not fade even after many years. If this happened, then they are of synthetic origin.
Another way to appreciate transparency is to try placing a stone on top of printed text. Through cubic Zirconia the letters will be clearly distinguishable, but through the diamond you will not be able to see anything.
You can also evaluate the transparency of natural stone with a magnifying glass with a twenty-fold increase. The product is viewed under natural light. If you can see how the rays bifurcate from the faces, then this is cubic zirconia. The diamond does not have this feature.
Oil and water test
You can check the purity of a stone with water only in cases where it is not inserted into the product and is colorless. Only in this case, when lowered into a glass of water, it almost completely visually disappears. This is where the well-known expression “diamond of pure water” came from. Simply put, it becomes absolutely transparent in it. Cubic Zirconia will sparkle with all the colors of the rainbow, marking its presence.
If the diamond has even a subtle shade,You can use another, no less effective way. Since cubic zirconia has a high density, falling on it, animal fat is split into small drops. On a diamond, it is preserved as a whole substance.
Hardness and thermal conductivity
The advantage of a diamond over cubic zirconia is its high strength. It is 15% higher than the hardness of artificial stone. If you rub a diamond with sandpaper, there will be no trace on it, but a synthetic stone will be pretty scratched. Of course, if it turns out that cubic zirconias are inserted into the jewelry, it will be doubly insulting, since the inserts will suffer. A more acceptable way to check the naturalness of a stone is thermal conductivity.
To do this, you need to lower your fist with a stone clamped in it into the water - there will be a feeling as if the hand is lathered. This effect is due to the properties inherent only in natural stones - they absorb gases in water. Zirconia does not have this ability.
Form evaluation and double effect
When detecting a fake, experts first of all pay attention to the shape and appearance of the stone. Light irregularities can only be created by nature, as opposed to a perfectly flat surface that has been made by man. Moreover, it is impossible to create such sharp, clear edges on an artificial stone as when cutting a diamond.
Double effect is observed only in synthetic stones. You can see it by examining the mineral in daylight with a 20x magnifying glass. Streams of light, falling on the stones,bifurcate - this is a characteristic property of cubic zirconia. The diamond will never distort the rays, they will always remain single.
Special device
Such a device is often called a diamond tester. It has various modifications, allows you to determine the authenticity of stones and identify their number in each individual row of a particular piece of jewelry.
If the device examines only the thermal conductivity of the stone, then here you can make a mistake, because the diamond has a fellow similar in this property. It's called moissanite. This is a synthetic stone created under a program for creating non-natural diamonds. It has 90% thermal conductivity similar to that of a precious specimen.
There are testers who determine the authenticity of a stone by its refractive index. Moissanite is distinguished by its greater coefficient than diamond. If the device is designed to work exclusively with polished specimens, then when checking an uncut nugget, the device will not produce any results.
That is why the best testers are considered to be those that check both indicators at once - thermal conductivity and light transmission.
Visual inspection
You can determine the origin of the insert in the decoration yourself by marking. Precious stones are always appropriately cut and placed in precious metal settings. For example, white gold rings with diamonds are very popular. Special marks are put on the product to determine authenticity.
If a diamondplaced in an open setting, it will shimmer in the light, making it possible to see the facets of the lower part of the stone. If they are covered with a mirror composition, then this is the first sign of a fake. It is not recommended to purchase such decoration.
How much will you have to pay?
The cost of accessories depends not only on the quantity and quality of the metal from which they are made. To a greater extent - from the weight and cleanliness of the inserts.
Women's rings with cubic zirkonia are very popular due to the affordable price and wide color range of artificial stone. The minimum price for silver items with inserts weighing 0.04 carats is approximately 8,500 rubles.
But, for example, a white gold ring with a diamond weighing 0.51 carats will already cost from 116,000 rubles. The difference in price is obvious, so it is important to be able to determine the origin of the stone, and you need to buy jewelry only in specialized jewelry stores.
