There are numerous ways for anyone to field test a piece of jewelry to determine if the stones are genuine diamonds. These can vary from a newspaper test of reading print through the diamond to trying to fog up the stone. However, the only scientific way to measure the authenticity of a stone is to get it tested by a third party certification process via the experts. Even when doing so, you have to specifically request AGS or GIA certification as there are a number of independent certifiers who can still grade a genuine diamond inaccurately when compared to these standards, costing you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars – even when the stone is genuine. If you want to know how to test your diamond ring accurately, always let the professionals handle this and get a certificate to prove not only the authenticity of the stone, but the correct grading for the stone.
How Certificates Go Wrong
Just because someone is willing to send out your diamond to a third party testing company doesn't mean you will get back the best results. Diamond grading for the four C's (color, clarity, cut, and carat) can vary if they aren't following set industry standards. Sometimes diamond vendors may even set up relationships with these third party certifiers aware that the grading can skew the value of the diamond and provide a bigger profit margin. If you want to be on the safe side and accurately gage the value of the diamond, stick to standards like AGS or GIA and you won't be disappointed later. Otherwise, you may find that the independent certifiers can use the same language and terms, but are essentially inflating values by shifting the grading of color or clarity a few notches based on their system. This can be very misleading to the general public and can be quite a surprise when someone else appraises the stone for far less because they used a AGS or GIA industry standard.
