diamond question
 

Any good, easy, fool-proof tests to distinguish between a diamond and an imposter gem?

(long story short... a couple at a bar where I was watching the Steelers a couple weeks ago attracted the attention of another man, who swore up and down that he knew the woman from somewhere. The guy (her fiance) got up to use the bathroom, and in his absence, everyone noticed the rock on her hand. While he was gone, the connection was made, that yes, the other guy knew her from her Playboy spread a couple months earlier. This guy wants to see her ring, and after a brief inspection insists that it's fake... he's a jewler, you see... to which she replies that of course it is not... a little uneasiness ensued when fiancee returned from the lav...)

So, I know that you can identify a few things by looking with a loupe (inclusions, etc), but without tools of the trade, is there any way to know for sure what you're looking at? I googled this and didn't find anything terribly helplful. So, naturally I thought the assembled mercedes owners would have the answer immediately.

i dont have a clue how to tell the difference....but id love to have been a fly on the wall on that car ride home, bet it was quite interesting :P

They got in some new Bimmer and drove off... prior to the end of the game...

Surface Tension
 

Is there some way depending on the surface tension whether water beads or runs off the diamond -- or was that just a myth in The Grifters?

John

Cubic zirconia's are so good today only an EXPERT with a microscope can tell the difference.

Diamonds are a sham, yes the wife has one for engagement but we both agree that they are a total waste.

Ruby's and Emeralds, that's another story.

Not a totally fool-proof method. Really more like suspicions....if the diamond appears "too perfect" especially in natural light, it may be suspect. CZs have no inclusions. All but the highest grade investment diamonds do.

But, as Ted noted, the newest lab created diamonds are virtually indistinguishable from the real thing....they come with inclusions!

Diamonds, being carbon, oughtta burn, huh? Put that sucker in a vice and crank-up the ol' oxyacetylene torch.

Let me know how it turns out.

It's easy.
If they drive a Benz, they have real diamonds.
If they drive a Bimmer, they have fake diamonds.

:P

Unless there is something new the fakes are perfect while even a flawless stone actually has flaws. I may be possible to make a flawed perfect fake and the trade is secretly upset about the possibility. We’d never know. A least one thing is perfectly true – you never get what you pay for in a jewelry store.