artificial diamonds
Artificial diamonds are not the
brainchild of this century alone. In the past imitation colored stones were
manufactured as early as the Egyptian, Phoenicians and Roman times. These
people were adepts at making simulated rubies, emeralds, sapphires and other
corresponding stones. However, the diamond was not among those imitations.
Artificial diamonds have been sold under a number of names. Earlier they
were called paste diamonds or glass. White stone jewelry also came under
this category. However, there was no attempt to try and deceive the buyer
as to what he/she was getting, though the hype that came with these stone
jewelry tried to convince the buyer that what they were getting was even
better than the real thing.
In recent years, many department stores have been stocking these cheap
artificial diamonds. These pieces are in reality either white topaz or rock
crystal which have been cut diamonds and then placed under effective
lighting to make these artificial diamonds appear exquisitely tempting to
the shopper. Earlier white sapphire and jargon have also been sold as
diamonds, but more often these imitations have been mostly glass as it looks
better and hence can be considered sold.
It has not been a widely known fact, but artificial diamonds have been
around since the 1950s. They were more commonly used industrially without
making inroads into the gem market due to its prohibitive manufacturing
cost. Nevertheless, the new artificial diamonds especially those being
manufactured by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) are economical to produce.
What's more, unlike cubic zirconium, they are indistinguishable from the
natural diamond even under lab testing equipment.
There are ways to distinguish an artificial/paste diamond from the real
rock. If you look into the paste one from the front you will find the inner
surfaces of the facets at the back do not have the shimmer of light on them,
which is quality present in real diamonds. Also the surface of the stone is
nowhere so hard looking and the corners of the facets not as sharp. Even
the light emitting from it is not as quick and sharp.
If you let the diamond and the paste lie together in the same temperature for a little while, you will find that if you put the tip of your tongue to them the paste will feel warmer than the stone. If you put a drop of water on each of their surfaces, you will find the drop on the diamond will remain on it like a globule, while that on the paste will spread over it.
Author F. Peris. copyright data 2004 Indianchild.com