Diamonds are a girl’s best friend and no best friend can be a fake! Dodgy dealers may try to trick you into purchasing fake diamonds, which are in fact the less precious stone, cubic zirconium or even cleverly disguised glass. Or you may have been given or inherited a stone, which may or not be a diamond. It is in fact very easy to distinguish the differences between a real diamond and a fake or less precious stone – so don’t be fooled in the future by having a quick look at a few methods of how to find real diamonds below.

If planning to purchase a real diamond, only go to reputable jewelers. You can generally tell if the jeweler is trustworthy and of good reputation simply by looking at the quality of what he sells, the prices and if he provides a certificate with diamonds, which note the quality of the diamond. Secondly, if he has awards or certificates and established date, the jeweler is very likely to be a true professional.

There are a few tests you can do if you want to test that what you’re handling is a real diamond. If the diamond is not set, place it on a newspaper, turn the stone over and try to read the newspaper. If you can read the newspaper, sadly it’s a fake. Diamonds refract light, hence they cannot be directly seen through.

A few of diamond’s properties can help you distinguish whether it is real or not. For instance, they conduct heat.  It is generally not a good idea to place any precious stone near intense heat, so for this test all you need to do is gently breathe upon the stone. If it remains fogged up for more than 5 seconds or so, it is likely to be a fake.  However, this test is not always accurate as it may be cubic zirconium capped with a diamond and moissanite finish.

Diamonds are a very hard element, hence they do not damage easily. A diamond is unlikely to have any scratches, whilst cubic zirconium – a much softer element – can be scratched really easily. Diamonds can easily cut or scratch something as solid as a mirror, whilst cubic zirconium is much more likely to be scratched or damaged by daily usage.

Moreover, look at the stone’s colour. Diamonds are generally not completely clear, like cubic zirconium; rather they are tinted with a yellow colour. Depending on the quality of the diamond, the tint will vary from stone to stone. A diamond’s coloured tinge is generally quite easy to see as professional jewelers cut accordingly to the colour in order to emphasise the unique clarity of the gem.

Furthermore you can check the validity of the diamond by looking at the mount. Diamonds are only mounted in precious metals such as gold and platinum because other metals, such as silver are considered to be too soft for diamonds. To check the precious metal is real, look out for hallmarks, such as the standard ‘925’ mark, the maker’s mark, the Assay hallmarks and a purity hallmark. At least one of these should be present if the metal is truly precious.

Another way to distinguish between diamonds and cubic zirconium is by price and checking for the cubic zirconium mark CZ. Diamonds are not in any way cheap, so be careful if the price seems too good to be true. Lastly, if you’re still uncertain go to a jeweler and ask for an appraisal – they will be able to tell you if it’s a fake or not.

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