How to Tell if a Diamond is Fake?

When it comes to diamonds, everyone wants the real thing, so how can you tell if the diamonds in your jewellery are real and not fakes?

Well, you don't need to be an professional jeweller or a diamond expert to tell if your diamond jewellery is fake or not. We look at a few tried and tested methods that you can do at home to help you find out if your diamonds are real or fake.

The Fog Test

This first test is simple. Take the stone which you are concerned about and breathe onto it as if you're fogging a mirror.

How will this tell if your diamond is fake or not? Fake diamonds will stay fogged up for a couple of seconds while real diamonds, due to how they're created, will simply disperse the heat of your breath instantly.

The Sinking Test

This test is easy to do and ideal for loose diamonds rather than jewellery as you are seeing whether your diamond floats.

Simply take a glass of water and drop the suspected loose diamond into the water. Diamonds, being a stone, should sink like one straight to the bottom. Fake diamonds will float.

The Sparkle Test

The sparkle of a diamond is one of the big reasons why people are attracted to its beauty and can be the key to tell you whether it is a fake or not.

When you shine a light directly at a diamond, how does it sparkle? Inside the stone, does the diamond sparkle gray and white? Does the outside of the diamond reflect a rainbow of colour onto other surfaces. The first is known as the ‘brilliance' and the second is known as ‘fire', dispersed light,  and both of these are traits of a real diamond.

A fake diamond, however, would reveal a rainbow of colours in the centre of the stone.

Something that cannot be faked, a diamond's sparkle is unique. The centre of the diamond does sparkle but it is a gray colour. If you find a rainbow of colours inside of your ‘diamond', then sadly, you are looking inside of a fake.

If you are unsure whether your diamond jewellery is fake or not, why not take it to one of our professional jewellers at either our Birmingham jewellery Quarter or London Hatton Garden store and our diamond experts can advise.