Navy CSI on diamond identification

In a recent episode one of the characters breathes on a stone
and claims to be able to tell whether it's a diamond or not by
observing the rate of evaporation.

"mbstevens" wrote in message
...
In a recent episode one of the characters breathes on a stone
and claims to be able to tell whether it's a diamond or not by
observing the rate of evaporation.


Yes, and then he can change inside a phone booth and fly away :-)

All jokes aside, maybe there is such or similar "method of identification",
but today we have synthetic diamonds which surely can't be so easily
detected.

On Tue, 19 Dec 2006 20:18:55 -0800, in rec.crafts.jewelry "m4816k"
wrote:

"mbstevens" wrote in message
. ..
In a recent episode one of the characters breathes on a stone
and claims to be able to tell whether it's a diamond or not by
observing the rate of evaporation.


Yes, and then he can change inside a phone booth and fly away :-)

All jokes aside, maybe there is such or similar "method of identification",
but today we have synthetic diamonds which surely can't be so easily
detected.



Whether there's an actually useful form of identification is debateable. But
diamond IS very different from the simulants in it's very high thermal
conductivity, which would affect condensation and evaporation if, for example,
the stone were quite cold, or the like...

But for the rest of use not on the CSI show, it's probably more reliable (and
easier) to just look at the stone carefully with a good loupe. You seldom need
more, at least to determine the simulants. True synthetics are going to be much
more of a problem when they become more widely available.

Peter