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Imitations
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When shopping for that perfect diamond, it is important to know the difference between a genuine diamond and an imitation. There are a number of tests you can do to help lower you chances of being fooled.
Since diamonds reflect back light, you should not be able to see through them. If you lay the stone face down on a newspaper or magazine, you should not be able to see the letters through the stone. If you can, it is probably an imitation. Keep in mind, however, that a poorly cut diamond may allow the letters to be seen. If you are examining a fancy cut diamond, you should place the stone face up. If you cannot see through it, it is a good indication that the stone is a diamond. |
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You can also tilt the stone against a dark background and look if you can see a fan-like dark spot on it. If the dark fan is present, it is most likely an imitation. As in the sample illustration below, the diamond on the right is an imitation and a dark fan-like shape is present.
However, the best test might be if you have another diamond that you can use to compare with the stone in question, you can hold them next to each other and move them under a light. If the stone flashes brighter rainbow colors than the diamond, it is probably fake. When possible, you should try to do multiple tests.
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