Are Natural Diamonds Fake?

Are Natural Diamonds Fake?

In fact, with all of the information on diamonds available online today, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Then, the simple question to many is this: Are natural diamonds fake? The short answer is no, but the full story is worth knowing. Understanding how diamonds are made and classified helps alleviate misperceptions and provides confidence when discussing gemstones. 

What Are Natural Diamonds?

Natural diamonds are created in Earth's mantle over one to three billion years. They form at high heat and pressure, in a process that bonds carbon atoms together as the hardest natural material ever known.

Why Natural Diamonds Are Authentic

  • Created by nature, not man

  • Made up of pure carbon ordered in a crystal lattice

  • Mined, not made

And because they have a natural origin, they are real diamonds in every scientific and gemological way.

Why Do People Question Their Authenticity?

The confusion often comes partly from the nature of today’s diamond market. Today, consumers have many choices, including synthetic diamonds produced using advanced technology, which are commonly used in modern jewellery such as dia studs. The two stones may appear similar, but they are of different provenance, not deception.

The word “fake” is thrown around too much. In gemology, an imposter diamond would be a material that is trying to pass as a diamond, like cubic zirconia. That isn’t the case with natural diamonds.

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Natural Diamonds vs. Lab-Grown Diamonds

The most common place where people get confused is when lab-created diamonds Australia and elsewhere come into discussion. Lab-grown diamonds are also real in the chemical and physical sense, but they’re made in controlled environments instead of deep underground.

Key Differences

  • Natural diamonds:
    formed naturally over millions of years

  • Lab-grown diamonds: 
    made by technology in weeks

  • Simulants: 
    look-alike materials that are not diamond

Understanding these differences allows for the decoupling of one from being treated as “fake” and the other as “real,” respectively. They are simply different categories.

Check out fabricated diamonds here!

The Role of Color in Diamond Confusion

Unusual colored diamonds present even more questions. Stones such as blue diamonds, green diamonds, and the incredibly rare red diamond are all natural in color, and their hues result from singular geological circumstances. Because they are so rare and therefore extremely valuable, some may be tempted to devalue them as unnatural.

Color has nothing to do with authenticity; it’s a reflection of where the diamond came from.

Diamonds in Jewelry and Everyday Use

Rings and wedding jewelry have always been made with natural diamonds for their enduring nature and symbolism. The global and ancient tradition of the foods also adds to evidence that they are anything but new, man-made imitations.

Certification (obtained by gemological labs) also does a heavy lifting to determine that a diamond is natural, laboratory-grown, or synthetic.

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The Final Thoughts

So, are natural diamonds fake? Absolutely not. Natural diamonds are birthstones, made by the Earth, not in a laboratory. The confusion is typically due to modern alternatives and unclear terminology, not the diamonds. Here at SKYGem&Co, we feel this is important in order to appreciate the quality of what you are purchasing. Natural, lab-grown, or otherwise, each diamond has its own tale to tell, but natural diamonds are as real as the Earth that made them.

Check out lab grown diamonds Australia here!

 

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