Diamonds are an expensive investment. For most people shopping for a diamond, they want to find quality at a great price. Therefore, many people will turn to online auctions on the internet, estate sales, and online companies. Typically, these options are legitimate and offer an excellent means for buying a great diamond at a great price. However, that nagging question, ?How do I know the diamond is real?? seems to always be lingering overhead.

Now that so many manufactured diamonds are available, this really is a good question. Most people have a hard time picking the real diamond from the phony one. When they're made of glass, crystals, or colorless stones, they aren't too hard to scope out. When manufacturers use cubic zirconium or Moissanite, the job gets tougher.

Your best option when buying diamonds is to have it examined by a certified diamond cutter or jeweler. While difficult when buying through an online auction, this step could save you tremendous heartache and money should the ?diamond? turn out to be something other than real. If you suspect you are being shown a cubic zirconia, you can do a few things to tell.

First, breathe on the stone. If the fog created lingers then you know the stone is a cubic zirconia but if the fog disappears quickly, the stone is real. Then, with an ink pen, try to write on the surface of the stone. If the stone is a cubic zirconia, the ink will ball up whereas it would stay in a clean line if real. Another test is to flip the stone upside down, looking through it over a piece of newspaper. If the print can be read easily and clearly, the stone is more than likely fake. Now, the one exception to this rule is that today, some shallow cut diamonds are more transparent.

Cubic zirconium weigh about 55% more than a similarly sized diamond. Try to compare it to a diamond you know is authentic by weighing both of them on a carat or gram scale. Also, real diamonds look fluorescent blue under black light. Most manmade stones will not show the blue color. As for quality, the bluer the diamond, the worse the quality. You may know your stone is real, but it may not be as good as you expected.

Other options include using a magnifying glass. Start by looking carefully at the facets from the top of the stone to see how well they are joined. Facets for real diamonds would be sharp, not a rolled appearance. Then, the girdles will need to be checked to see if they are faceted or frosty in appearance, which represents real. However, if the girdles are waxy and slick, the stone is a fake. You have a number of ways to make sure you get what you are paying for, but these are insiders secret tips that work.

Copyright 2006, Joy McDougle, All Rights Reserved. This article may be published on web sites or in newsletters provided this notice and the resource box is included without ammendment.