What Does A Real Black Diamond Look Like

Cloudy areas cracks lines pinpoints chips take a look at the image below and the official diamond plot terminology.

What does a real black diamond look like.

Separating a diamond look alike from the real thing is one of the biggest challenges a new gemologist faces. In the chart below you ll find common diamond look alike stones and real diamonds arranged by specific. However there are several types of black diamonds. To keep the explanation as simple as possible black diamonds feature carbon isotopes associated with the crust of the earth not the earth s depths where other diamonds typically form.

Are black diamonds opaque or translucent. Black diamonds as well as natural fancy black diamonds are real. Cubic diamonds on the other hand will have parallelograms or rotated squares. However the black color in the first group is not achieved naturally.

A real raw diamond should also appear like it has a coat of vaseline over it. It is the result of heating treatments. It is possible that these diamonds actually formed during meteor impacts. Natural fancy black diamonds on the other hand are found in the rough with the same black color they display when they are bought.

It should be noted though that there are diamonds whose color has been artificially changed to black. Click here to see a selection of popular black diamond jewelry. All are real but there is a vast difference between the different types of black diamonds and if you plan on buying one you should know that there is also a huge difference in value. Black diamonds are as real as white diamonds but are not as common.

However two properties specific gravity and birefringence hold the key to distinguishing diamonds. What do black diamonds look like. What gives away its non diamond origin however is its sparkle it is more colorful than that of a real diamond. Put the diamond under the loupe or microscope and look for rounded edges that have tiny indented triangles.

It is made of silicon carbide and is almost as hard as real diamond moissanite s hardness is 9 5 on the mohs scale whereas diamond s is 10. Diamonds and their simulants can share some optical and physical properties. Black spots can look like small dark flakes or they can congregate together and look like a massive eye sore. Common diamond simulants include cubic zirconia white zircon white topaz white sapphire moissanite white spinel quartz rock crystal and glass however these gems all have different physical chemical and optical properties.

A number of white gems can have a diamond like appearance. There are man made black diamonds there are natural black diamonds and there are treated black diamonds. A loupe is a special magnifying glass that jewelers use. There are however genuine black diamonds that occur naturally.

So when you are panning and you see a transparent to white crystal or even better a pink or blue crystal in your pan in the middle of the black sands with distinct greasy luster. These 13 procedures will test the properties of your gem to help you. Diamond has a specific gravity of 3 5 and will concentrate with black sands in a gold pan.