"Diamonds are a girl's best friends.."


"Diamonds are for ever.. "



Popular sayings about ladies and diamonds are many. Women'slove for diamonds has been talked about many a time. However, real diamonds maynot always be affordable. Not everyone can celebrate an occasion with a pairof diamond earrings or a diamond ring. But don't we all love the look and feelof a diamond? Well, there is a solution for this dilemma faux diamonds.


Technology has enabled man to produce diamonds manually,known as faux diamonds, that look and feel exactly like real diamonds, but atmuch more cheaper costs. Consequently, faux diamonds are available at highly affordablerates. Faux diamonds are known by several names, such as lab-made diamonds,man-made diamonds and imitation diamonds. Faux diamonds look so much like realdiamonds that it is very difficult to distinguish between the two. Only ahighly trained person can differentiate the two, and even then, in certaincases, a microscope or other equipments might be required.


Initially, when faux diamonds were introduced, they werelooked down upon. Later, as the prices of diamonds began shooting up, as didthe prices of almost all commodities, out of reach of the middle- andlow-income group, faux diamonds began to be accepted. Just as the invention ofcultured pearls brought about a new trend in the pearl jewellery industry, fauxdiamonds have revolutionized the diamond jewellery industry.


There are different kinds of faux diamonds available in themarket today, from Cubic Zirconia (CZ) to Moissanite. There are a number ofways in which faux diamonds can be produced. These stones are priced depending upon the type of manufacturing process used and their qualities. However, theyare usually far less expensive than original diamonds.


Once one has decided on the budget for purchasing jewellery,there is a wide range of jewellery to choose from. Faux diamond set in metaloffers the look and feel of diamond at highly affordable rates. If, however,one is looking for slightly better quality, faux diamonds set in gold andsilver is available. A bit more expensive than jewellery set in ordinary metal,it is more durable, and the stones used in it are of better quality and cut. Suchjewellery often looks more real and professionally made.


Quality tests carried out on faux diamonds have proved that they are as good as real diamonds. These tests include a test of brilliance,refractive index, fire, luster and hardness, among others. Here, the brilliancetest refers to allowing light to enter into a stone and studying the amount oflight that is reflected back, and the fire test refers to allowing light toenter the stone and studying the ability of the stone to break this light downinto various colours. At times, faux diamonds have been found to outperformdiamonds in these quality tests! Moissanite, a type of faux diamond, ranked higherthan an original diamond when brilliance, fire and luster were tested. In caseof hardness, it ranked only slightly lower than an original diamond. In fact,so many jewelers were unable to differentiate Moissanite from original diamondsthat a specialized instrument had to be designed for this very purpose!


Why should one go for faux diamonds? First and foremost,they offer the gorgeous real-diamond look that very few can tell apart with thenaked eye, that too within a limited budget. Apart from this, they offerseveral other benefits, such as:


 

  • With imitation jewellery, one need not worry about theft or insuring your jewellery.


  • One need not be worried about the fraudulent pricing mechanisms that are sometimes observed in the diamond jewellery market showing very high prices for the products and then declaring a huge rate of discount, so as to attract more buyers.


  • The processes of diamond mining, cutting and polishing have been observed to involve inhuman working conditions and child labour in many parts of the world. Faux diamonds are laboratory-made, and hence, such situations can be avoided.


  • Original diamonds vary in quality, while imitation diamonds have a uniform quality. The chances of frauds are thus minimized.


  • In case of original diamonds, monopolization of the market through diamond cartels has been observed. Faux diamonds are very reasonably priced, and hence, monopolization is not encouraged.


  • Last but not the least, the attention that one gets is worth a mention. One can flaunt a rock-sized diamond without burning a hole in ones pocket!


Diamonds might be a girl's best friends, but it is quite clear that faux diamonds are probably a girls best decision when it comes to buying diamonds! So, what are you waiting for? Just go ahead and buy all the jewellery you have always wanted to buy! Flaunt your faux diamonds with style!


References:


1)       http://www.suite101.com

2)       http://www.buzzle.com


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