6 ways to identify a rough diamond

The word diamond comes from the Greek Adams and means “indestructible”, reference to the hardness of the material.^{Diamond is a natural mineral with a characteristic that makes it unmistakable: it is the stone with greater hardness (rating of 10 on the Mohs scale), which makes it very useful in the industry for stoning and cutting and other materials with less hardness.[1]}

The extraction of diamonds from nature is, like any other type of mineral extraction, responsible for several negative changes in the environment, such as physical and chemical impacts on water, soil, atmosphere, flora, fauna and topography of the land.^[2]Although diamond is a stone of high commercial value and useful to the industry, we must also think about the nature and the negative consequences that mineral exploration can cause, thus avoiding causing irreparable damage, especially when the exploration is carried out illegally and without the proper studies that can reduce the damage caused.

Rough diamonds, because of their vulgar appearance, can be confounded by inexperienced observers with cubic zirconia, quartz or moissanite, moreover, precious stones that have not yet been stoned look quite different in nature from what we are used to seeing in jewels, which makes it quite difficult for us to distinguish different stones only with the naked eye.

The features from a diamond in natural state are: it is opaque when removed from the earth but, after being washed and polished, it can reveal a greyish glow.

Diamonds don’t let light through it, as they do with glass, due to their high light dispersion of 0.0437^[3]. For this reason make a little experience: place the suspicious stone on a magazine or other written material, if the letters are clearly reflected on the stone, it is because it is not a diamond.

Another possibility for know if it’s diamond That stone you have found, if it is already stoned, is to make it come into contact with direct light and observe if there is the formation of colored slits of light, originated by reflection.

This way to recognize a diamond is one of the simplest and can be done anywhere without the need for any apparatus. Take the stone that you think is a diamond and put it next to your mouth, exhale to try to fog it. A real diamond will not fog up or, if bluras the mineral has low specific heat, i.e. it does not have great capacity to retain heat^[4]. Once the steam reaches the diamond, the effect will take less than 2 seconds to dissipate.

Since diamond is a mineral and consequently an object of constant properties^[3]added to the fact that nothing can scratch a stone like that, except another diamond, a form of identify a diamond is to try to scratch that suspicious diamond stone with something sharp, like a screwdriver or a glass. If no mark comes from the stone, it’s most likely a diamond!

For more tips and information that will allow you to discover the great mysteries, see how to know if the diamond is real.

Diamonds in their natural state have a density of 3.52g/cm³, i.e. much heavier than water, a substance with 0.99g/cm³. Due to the high density of this precious stone in relation to water, one of the possibilities of testing the origin of the material that you suppose to be a diamond will be to put it inside a glass with water so that, if it sinks, it could be a diamond and, if it ends up floating, the possibility is discarded.

Since some other also transparent materials, such as lead crystal, also have a much higher density than water^[5]The test will not bring you certainty, but it will eliminate some possibilities, since other materials like acrylic have a density close to that of water (1.19g/m³^[6]) and could cause confusion.

Finally, the best way to identify a rough diamond is to take it to a gemologist or jeweller. These professionals will have the necessary materials to analyze which stone it is.

If you want to read more similar articles to How to identify a rough diamondWe recommend that you enter our category of Art and Crafts.

1. DANESE, L. C.; CARLOTTO, M. B. de M. Diamond. National Department of Mineral Production, National Mining Agency. Available at: http://www.dnpm.gov.br/dnpm/publicacoes/serie-estatisticas-e-economia-mineral/outras-publicacoes-1/5-3-diamante. Access on: 26/03/2020.
2. SANTOS, L. T. S. de O; VACONCELOS, M. P.; RODRIGUES, D. da. P; NOLASCO, M; C; de JESUS, T. B. Consequences of the diamond mining activity in the Coisa Boa river basin, village of Igatu – Andaraí – BA. Journal of Biology and Earth Sciences, Vol 10, nº 2, 2010. Available at: http://joaootavio.com.br/bioterra/workspace/uploads/artigos/artigo_01_v10_n2-51561a085fabc.pdf. Access on: 26/03/2020.
3. SVIZZERO, D. P. The Multiple Facets of Diamond. USP Magazine, São Paulo, nº 71, pp. 52-69, 2006. Available at: http://www.revistas.usp.br/revusp/article/download/13551/15369/. Access on: 26/03/2020.
4. RAMAN, C. V. The heat capacity of diamond between 0 and 1000º K. Memoir No. 103 of the Raman Research Institute, Bangalored, 1957. Disponível em: http://dspace.rri.res.in/jspui/bitstream/2289/1763/1/1957%20Proc%20Indian%20Acad%20Sci%20A%20V46%20p323-332.pdf. Access on: 26/03/2020.
5. of LIGHT, A. B.; COSTA, M. J. Diamond, Rocks and Industrial Minerals. Mineral Technology Center, 2005. Available at: http://mineralis.cetem.gov.br/bitstream/cetem/1053/1/17.DIAMANTE.pdf. Access on: 26/03/2020.
6. Acrylic, from beginning to end. National Institute for the Development of Acrylic. Available at: http://www.indac.org.br/arquivos/acrilico_indac.pdf. Access on: 26/03/2020.