Best Ways to Tell if a Diamond Is Real: 5 At-Home Tests

With traders trying to sell you a diamond of bad quality or, what's even worse, a diamond that isn't even real, you have to constantly be careful of what you buy and where.

Though the fact that a diamond is significantly cheaper in one place than it is everywhere else is the first sign that something isn't quite right here, it doesn't necessarily mean anything. Sadly, you can give away half of your monthly salary for a ring or a necklace and still end up with a fake.

The good news is, there are easy ways to know for certain whether you are holding real or man-made diamonds. You can run these tests at home and quickly find out the truth about your diamond ring, be it your own purchase or a gift from your loved one, without having to hire a professional.

1. Breathe on the diamond.

Breathe on your diamond, as if it were a mirror or a window you are trying to create fog on. If the diamond gets fogged up and stays so for a few seconds, then you are most likely holding a fake. A real diamond won't get foggy because it won't be able to retain your breath's heat.

The difficulty here is that, with small diamonds, it's hard to tell whether they are foggy or not. However, you can still run this test successfully if you have one stone that is fake for sure. Breathe on both of them and see what happens. If the two stones get fogged up the same, this is a clear indication that both of them are fake.

2. Look at the diamond through a magnifying glass.

All you need for this test is to take a magnifying glass and look at your diamond through it. Can you spot any imperfections? If you can't, the diamond isn't real. Every real diamond has some imperfections that are also called inclusions.

3. Drop the diamond in water

This test is one of the easiest and fastest ones. To run it, fill a glass with water; it makes no difference what type of water you choose to use. Next, you need to drop your diamond in water and see what happens to it. A real diamond, due to its high density, should sink to the bottom once it comes in contact with water. A fake diamond, on the other hand, will stay on the surface or float somewhere in the middle of the glass.

4. Heat the diamond.

Diamonds are some of the strongest materials on Earth and they don't shatter easily. If you remember this particular quality, you will have no problem figuring out whether you are holding a real or a fake diamond.

To run this test, fill a drinking glass with cold water. Hold your diamond with fireproof gloves, heat it with a lighter for about 40 seconds and then drop it right into the glass. Does the stone shatter? If it does, then it's made from components that are much weaker than diamonds. A fake diamond will break because of a sudden change in temperature, while a real one won't be affected.

5. Read a newspaper through the diamond.

Put your diamond on a page of a newspaper, preferably in the spot where there are lots of letters. Make sure that nothing interferes with the test, i.e. that you have bright enough lighting and that nothing and no one casts a shadow on the stone.

Are you able to read the letters through the diamond? Even if they appear slightly blurry, this is an indication that the diamond is fake. If you're dealing with a real diamond, you'll notice that light is refracted from it in different directions, making it impossible to see the letters through it clearly.

Running one or more of these tests on your diamond, you'll know with about 95 percent certainty if the diamond that you bought or received as a gift isn't real. However, there always will be that tricky 5 percent; you might have a fake that's so professionally made that no test will reveal anything. This is why, if you are still suspicious about your diamond, you should consult a diamond expert. No fake will be able to hide from his eyes.