What Does A Real Black Diamond Look Like

A loupe is a special magnifying glass that jewelers use.

What does a real black diamond look like.

Diamond has a specific gravity of 3 5 and will concentrate with black sands in a gold pan. 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. Cubic diamonds on the other hand will have parallelograms or rotated squares. Black diamonds as well as natural fancy black diamonds are real.

Cloudy areas cracks lines pinpoints chips take a look at the image below and the official diamond plot terminology. Other noticeable flaws in a diamond include. Black diamonds are as real as white diamonds but are not as common. Natural fancy black diamonds on the other hand are found in the rough with the same black color they display when they are bought.

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. However two properties specific gravity and birefringence hold the key to distinguishing diamonds. 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. Put the diamond under the loupe or microscope and look for rounded edges that have tiny indented triangles.

A number of white gems can have a diamond like appearance. Diamonds and their simulants can share some optical and physical properties. 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. There are man made black diamonds there are natural black diamonds and there are treated black diamonds.

These 13 procedures will test the properties of your gem to help you. However the black color in the first group is not achieved naturally. It is the result of heating treatments. Are black diamonds opaque or translucent.

Separating a diamond look alike from the real thing is one of the biggest challenges a new gemologist faces. Moissanite is also reasonably colorless and looks much like the real thing. It should be noted though that there are diamonds whose color has been artificially changed to black. Black spots can look like small dark flakes or they can congregate together and look like a massive eye sore.

There are however genuine black diamonds that occur naturally. What do black diamonds look like. 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. It is possible that these diamonds actually formed during meteor impacts.

However there are several types of black diamonds. What gives away its non diamond origin however is its sparkle it is more colorful than that of a real diamond. Click here to see a selection of popular black diamond jewelry.