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chistevyesterday at 3:19 PM5 repliesview on HN

Could you distinguish between them if you weren't told?


Replies

para_paroluyesterday at 3:28 PM

In final jewelry no. This is why brands like Tiffany are in panic and pivoting to mechanical-watch-like branding, where only inflated price matters.

s0rceyesterday at 3:38 PM

With close microscopic examination of inclusions and defects, yes you probably can. There are also spectroscopic differences. In general looking at finished jewelry, no, not really.

show 1 reply
ridgeguyyesterday at 5:39 PM

De Beers sells devices that can distinguish between naturals and CVD synthetics. They're not cheap, but less than ~$80K, IIRC. They do a pretty good job, I've heard >90% success in identifying CVD stones.

analog31yesterday at 5:14 PM

There are some applications, such as IR optics, where natural diamonds aren't pure enough.

mlmonkeyyesterday at 5:10 PM

DeBeers has been working on systems to do that.