Imitation Colored Diamonds

Because of the rarity and extremely high cost of natural colorless and colored diamonds, there was a need to provide options for customers who desired the look of such diamonds, without the expensive price tag. Hence, the birth of imitation colorless and colored diamonds.

Imitation diamonds or diamond simulants are terms which are used interchangeable to refer to natural or artificial materials that are used in place of actual diamonds. An example of an imitation diamond is cubic zirconia. Other materials used in imitation diamonds are high-leaded glass, strontium titanate and synthetic rutile. However, the most popular imitation diamond to date is the moissanite.

In order to truly to be called an imitation diamond, the material must be able to disperse light the way a diamond does as well as possess the hardness that an actual diamond exhibits. Diamond connoisseurs and gemology experts are able to distinguish a natural diamond from an imitation just by looking at it. However, to the untrained and unsophisticated eye, the sparkle and glitter of a cubic zirconia ring will be able to make the fact that such a stone is just an imitation diamond go unnoticed.

If you have received a beautiful pink or canary diamond ring or necklace, and are wondering if the stones are indeed real diamond crystals, here are some important facts to remember. Natural diamonds are by far the hardest substances on earth. Therefore, it goes without saying, that a natural diamond will not have any scratches on it because it is resilient to scratching, as other materials will not be able to match its hardness.

However, an imitation diamond will have flaws and perhaps will scratch easily, because it will never be as hard as a natural diamond. Another way to test your colored stone is to scratch it against a pane of glass, such as a window pane. A natural diamond will come out of it unscathed, while the window pane will have scratches.

Another way to determine whether a diamond is natural or an imitation is to check the way the stone fluoresces under ultraviolet light. Natural diamonds will fluoresce blue, yellow, green, mauve or red lights in varying intensities. However, if the stones fluoresce in a uniform and identical manner, most likely, the stone you are holding is an imitation diamond. Also, the absorption spectrum of a diamond is usually four hundred and fifteen nanometers.

 Meanwhile, in imitation diamonds, the dopants used to give the diamond its color can be detected as a complex rare earth absorption spectrum.
You will also be surprised to know that if the stone is completely free from any external flaws or inclusions it is most likely to be an imitation colored diamond. Natural colored diamonds will have some fracturing and foreign crystals.  However, because imitation colored diamonds are not formed the same way natural diamonds are, they are therefore free from any of these flaws and exclusions.

 However, just because a colored diamond is merely an imitation or a simulation, it does not mean that the stone is completely worthless. In fact, these stones are also expensive and have superior qualities in themselves.