Fianite is often referred to as an artificial diamond. This is not quite true: by its chemical composition, diamond is a cubic allotropic form of carbon, while fianite is zirconium dioxide. It was obtained by Soviet scientists from the Lebedev Physical Institute of the Academy of Sciences (FIAN) to create laser equipment. But it turned out that the brilliant mineral found its calling in a completely different field – jewelry. The only thing it inherited from its forebear institute was its name.

Since the 90s, fianite began to be actively used in the production of jewelry. That caused quite a lot of difficulties for ordinary people: after all, it is not always possible to visually distinguish a precious stone from an artificial mineral.

How to distinguish a fianite from a diamond

Method 1: looking for “defects” with a magnifying glass

Natural stones always have small inclusions. Gemologists distinguish 4 types of them: dots, clusters of dots, voids and feathers. They can be seen when the stone is magnified 10 times or more. Artificially created fianite does not have any inclusions.

Method 2: Looking at the cut

When cutting diamonds, it is very important to make the facets as smooth, sharp and symmetrical as possible: the play of light in the stone depends on it. Fianite, on the other hand, shines even with a less demanding cut. If you look at the mineral through a magnifying glass with 10x magnification, you will notice rounded facets. Gemologists say that they “double”. Also an experienced jeweler or gemologist can distinguish the play of light in these stones. But for the average person, alas, this may go unnoticed.

Method 3: check the wettability

If you drop vegetable oil on a stone, it will drip off smoothly on a diamond. While on a fianite it will separate into drops or blobs. This is due to the fact that a diamond has a high ability to be wetted by dense liquids, while its artificial counterpart has a low one. This method can be called one of the safest ways to distinguish a diamond from a fianite in a ring or earrings.

Method 4: Check the thermal conductivity

Due to the fact that a diamond and a fianite have different thermal conductivity, you can find out what kind of stone you have in front of you by breathing. You need to breathe on it in much the same way as when you try to warm your hands. A diamond has a high thermal conductivity and will not fog up. However, condensation (“vapor”) will appear on the surface of the phianite.

Method 5: Test for hardness

Almost everyone knows that natural diamond is incredibly hard. If you scratch it on glass (or vice versa with glass on a diamond), there will be a visible scratch on the glass. In the case of fianite, the stone itself will be damaged, so we recommend using this method only as a last resort.

Lütfen dikkat! Do not strike the stones under any circumstances. A natural diamond is strong, but it can crack quite easily.

Method 6: testing for electrical conductivity

Check for electrical conductivity using a special tester (duotester). A fianite conducts electricity, while a diamond is a dielectric. This is fixed by the tester and gives quite an unambiguous answer.

Method 7: check the glow in ultraviolet light

We do not recommend checking stones with UV light: in some sources you can read that a natural diamond will not glow in UV light, but a fianite will. This is not true. Natural diamonds can also glow in UV light if they contain certain impurities. Gemologists even distinguish several different groups of diamond fluorescence, from very strong to none. It is noteworthy that in different countries different stones are of great value: in the United States, luminous diamonds are favored, while in Europe – without fluorescence.

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