Diamond jewelry is considered one of the most expensive. However, often unscrupulous sellers try to sell jewelry, replacing natural stones with artificial or non-precious. In order not to be deceived and not to acquire an expensive fake, it is important to know how to distinguish a diamond from cubic zirconia in a ring or other accessory.
Key Features
A diamond is a stone of natural origin, which is obtained through the processing of diamond. Each of them has a strictly defined number of faces - there are 57 in total. It is precisely this amount that refracts light rays as much as possible, due to which the stone incredibly shimmers and shines.
Since diamond is one of the most durable natural formations, even with 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 thousand rubles. Price is more dependent 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.
Cubic zirconia 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, distinguishing it from a diamond is quite difficult. However, a closer look reveals several inconsistencies. Further in the article, we will consider how zirconia differs from a diamond in appearance.
When assessing the cost 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 simulate almost all precious minerals.
What is the difference between stones
At first glance, we can state the fact that cubic zirconia is similar to a diamond, it is rather difficult, but possible, to distinguish them from each other to an unprofessional. There are many ways to verify the authenticity of a stone. Some of them can be used right before buying in the store or at home.
Consider the properties that are worth paying attention to when comparing:
- The stone is carefully inspected in the jewelry. If there are small scratches on it, the shine in the shade is less bright, there may be blotches - 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 out on the glass. The diamond will leave a clear mark, but it will not suffer. In turn, cubic zirconia can not cope with the glass surface and will scratch itself or crack. Although this method may not work. But if you hold the diamond along the cubic zirconia, there will be a scratch.
- 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 muddy point 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 quickly heats up from the warmth of the hands, and the second always remains slightly cool.
- Par. If you breathe on the stones, cubic zirconia will fog up, and the diamond will remain clean.
- The form. Experienced jewelers know how to visually distinguish a diamond from cubic zirconia. You just need to look at the instance. Since the diamond was created by nature, it has insignificant roughnesses, while cubic zirconia, on the contrary, has a perfectly smooth surface and slightly smoothed edges.
- 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. A diamond will stick easily, while cubic zirconia will fall.
- Transparency. If you lower the purest diamond in a glass filled with water and look at it from the side, the stone will not be visible.
Next, we will consider in detail how to distinguish a diamond from cubic zirconia in a ring or other jewelry.
Transparency rating
To distinguish a diamond from cubic zirconia in a ring that has long been donated or inherited, just look at the product with the naked eye. Natural stones do not fade even after many years. If this happened, then they are of synthetic origin.
Another way to evaluate transparency is to try putting a stone on the printed text. Through the cubic zirconia the letters will be clearly distinguishable, but through the diamond nothing can be seen.
You can also evaluate the transparency of natural stone using a magnifier with a twenty-fold increase. The product is examined under natural light. If you can see how the rays are bifurcated from the faces, then this is cubic zirconia. A diamond does not have such a feature.
Oil and water check
It is possible to check the purity of a stone with water only in cases when it is not inserted into the product and is colorless. Only in this case, when lowered into a glass of water, it disappears almost completely visually. Hence the famous expression “pure water diamond”. Simply put, in it it becomes completely transparent. Zirconia will sparkle with all the colors of the rainbow, noting 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, getting on it, animal fat splits into small drops. On a diamond, it is preserved as a solid 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 the diamond with sandpaper, there will not be a trace on it, but the synthetic stone will be pretty scratched. Of course, if it turns out that cubic zirconia is inserted into the decoration, it will be doubly offensive, since the inserts will suffer. A more acceptable way to check the naturalness of the stone is thermal conductivity.
To do this, lower your fist with a stone clamped in it into the water - you will feel as if a hand has been soaped. This effect is due to properties inherent only to natural stones - they absorb gases in water. Zircon does not have this ability.
Shape evaluation and double effect
When identifying a fake, experts first of all pay attention to the shape and appearance of the stone. Light bumps can only be created by nature, in contrast to the perfectly flat surface that a person made. Moreover, it is impossible to create such sharp, clear edges on an artificial stone as when processing diamond.
A double effect is observed only in synthetic stones. You can see it by examining the mineral in daylight using a magnifier with a twenty-fold increase. Streams of light, falling on stones, bifurcate - this is a characteristic of cubic zirconia. A diamond will never distort 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 the stones and identify their number in each individual row of a particular jewelry.
If the device only examines the thermal conductivity of a stone, then one can make a mistake here, because a diamond has a fellow similar in this property. It is called moissanite. This is a synthetic stone created by the program for creating non-natural diamonds. It has 90% thermal conductivity similar to that of a precious specimen.
There are testers that 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 give any results.
That is why the best testers are considered to be those that test at once on two indicators - thermal conductivity and light transmission.
Visual inspection
You can determine the origin of the insert in the jewelry yourself by marking. Gemstones always have a corresponding cut and are placed in a frame of precious metals. For example, white gold and diamond rings are very popular. On the product put special signs for determining the authenticity.
If the diamond is placed in an open frame, it will shimmer in the light, making it possible to see the edges 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 jewelry.
How much will you have to give?
The cost of accessories depends not only on the quantity and quality of the metal from which they are made. To a greater extent - on the weight and purity of the inserts.
Women's rings with cubic zirconia are very popular due to the affordable price and wide color range of artificial stone. The minimum price for silver products with a weight of inserts of 0.04 carats is approximately 8500 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.