Many friends often hear the word "rhinestone" when buying jewelry, which probably means imitated diamonds. In fact, rhinestones are only a general term for imitation diamonds, and rhinestones have many distinctions. So what exactly is the so-called "rhinestone"? What is the difference between it and real diamonds? The following are the types of "rhinestones" that you usually see on the market:
1 Glass Fake diamonds made of glass are easy to distinguish, because it has a low refractive index and does not have the shimmering colorful light of real diamonds. People with a little experience will know it at a glance. And this "rhinestone" is often used in relatively cheap jewelry.
2 Artificial spinel. It lacks the sparkling color of diamond. Immerse it in diiodomethane and its outline will be blurred. The outline of a real diamond is very clear.
3 Artificial sapphire Colorless and transparent artificial sapphire can also be used as a substitute for diamond after polishing. But it almost disappears in the "diiodomethane", and the edges of real diamonds are dark and very clear.
4 Crystal and Topaz These two transparent crystals of natural minerals are similar to diamonds after being polished, but they lack the brilliance of diamonds. And they are all "heterogeneous bodies", while diamonds are "homogeneous bodies", which is easier to distinguish with a polarizer.
5 Zircon Before the advent of man-made cubic zirconia, zircon was the best diamond substitute. Zircon has strong birefringence, that is, it has two refractive indexes, and the difference between the two refractive indexes is large. This produces a very special optical phenomenon. When observing a polished zircon prismatic gem with a magnifying glass, it can be seen from the top surface that the bottom surface and the ridgeline have obvious double shadows. And because diamonds are "homogeneous", there is no double shadow phenomenon.
6 cubic zirconia (ie "Soviet diamond") This is the most ideal diamond substitute or counterfeit product first introduced by the former Soviet Union. It is a man-made compound without natural minerals. Because cubic zirconia is very close to natural diamonds in terms of refractive index and dispersion. However, its hardness is low (8.5) and its specific gravity is 1.6-1.7 times that of diamonds, reaching 5.6-6, and its thermal conductivity is much lower than diamonds, so it can still be accurately distinguished from diamonds by instruments.
