No one would consider giving their loved one a fake engagement ring, but at other times fake can be fabulous. Most people don’t know how to tell a diamond from cubic zirconia, so when it doesn’t matter, you can opt for fashions that save you a little money, but don’t necessarily sacrifice the bling. You may be surprised to find out that fake diamonds come in many varieties. They’re not all cubic zirconia. Faking diamonds started out with glass reproductions, became more sophisticated over time, until new synthetic diamonds came on the market that are diamonds cultured in the lab, instead of nature.  No matter which fake diamond you choose, they will always be worth far less than real, natural, diamonds. They will have different properties than diamonds, most of them being much softer and easily damaged. However, the look can approach the look of diamonds and be a great way to fantasize while you save up the money for the real thing. Then, when you’re ready to buy the real thing, you’ll already have some understanding of how to tell a diamond from a cubic zirconia or other fake. You’ll feel much more confident in the diamond buying process, and make much more informed purchases in the future.

Glass Diamonds

These are often in antique or vintage jewelry. The settings may have actually contained a real diamond at one point, and somewhere along the way, the diamond was stripped and a glass reproduction put in its place. You’ll find these more often in settings that have a closed back, as there were ways to keep them from being too closely inspected using a simple newspaper test. The test consisted of looking through the diamonds bottom to see if you can read a line of print. With glass or cubic zirconia, it’s very easy. With diamond, it’s very hard because the light is very well reflected.

Rhinestones

These are similar to glass and used in clothing to simulate the look of diamonds, but are generally not anywhere near. It can add a splash of sparkly fun to your wardrobe, but in general, there are even better options today, if you want to have a fake that looks the part. Rhinestones tend to look a bit plastic and don’t reflect light as well as cubic zirconia.

Cubic Zirconia

These fakes do look pretty good for what they are. They are flawless and equate to a “D” color diamond. They do reflect more of a prismatic and colorful spectrum than diamonds, which can make them look bit fake for diamonds. They are much softer than diamonds and so jewelry made with them can be damaged. They have quite different characteristics than diamonds, so jewelers can easily tell a cubic zirconia from a real diamond. For one thing, the cubic zirconia will be an insulator and the diamond is known as a very good thermal conductor.

Moissanite

This material is very close to diamonds in look and characteristics. They have been known to fool some jewelers who don’t have the proper equipment to inspect the diamond in question. You generally need a special Moissanite inspecting tool, and not just the general round of diamond tests. That’s because this particular synthetic material has a very similar hardness and thermal conductivity range that approximates diamonds. It is not as hard, but still very hard for a synthetic diamond. It is very close to thermal conductivity as a real diamond. Since they are grown in the laboratory, though, they hold no organic value and they aren’t priced as high as diamonds.

Knowing The Difference

If it’s hard for a jeweler to distinguish between moissanite and diamonds, imagine the average person’s dilemma? Since the difference in value is so large, you will want to assure yourself that if you think you are buying a real diamond, that it in fact is. It’s one thing to deliberately go out and seek a synthetic stone, and quite another to be fooled into buying one you think is real, but has been carefully labeled so as to avoid the fact that it is really a synthetic. If you are going into the market for a real diamond, which most people do eventually, the best way to make sure you are getting the real thing is to only do business with reputable companies that provide a lab certification report. That way, you will know exactly what characteristics your diamond has and how much it is actually worth, instead of assuming that because it looks like a diamond, it’s the real thing.