Real diamonds are mined from the earth. Fake diamonds are costume jewelry or cubic zirconia. Manufactured diamonds, however, are man-made and a diamond expert cannot tell the difference between it and a real diamond.

If you have access to a library with an archive of Life Magazine, look up this article:

Authors: Van Biema, David & Duncan, David Ewing
Source: Life; Mar93, Vol. 16 Issue 3, p54, 3p, 5c
Abstract: Discusses how Lea Potts, a 15-year-old students at Mount Vernon High School in Alexandria, Va., can make diamonds with her dad's welding torch. Scientists are rapidly learning how to create diamonds easily and cheaply, and the future fairly sparkles with the promise of Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD). How transmutation works; Advice from Naval Research Laboratory; The possibilities in electronics; More.

actually that is false statement only an expert can tell but now you can learn to tell a fake from a real one go to this link and learn how to tell if you got a real diamond or not.

http://physics.about.com/od/optics/a/diamond.htm

Also known as synthetic Diamond, it was initially tested and created by US Naval Agency to test out various modules using diamond as a source or a medium. Dates cannot be confirmed since it's still classified. It was so perfect the way Carbon atoms were lined up, that experts had to guess it was synthetic. These Diamonds are created small amounts at a time in high pressured chamber with Carbon atoms and catalyst chemicals to induce Carbons to align properly. Fearing that these Diamonds will be sold to the black market, due to their immaculate identicalness to the real diamonds, the Agency started to engrave serial numbers to Diamonds with special laser that cannot be altered and only experts can find.

funny though i watch a few programs about diamonds and they never talk about it, no wonder , but yeah those numbers would have to be pretty darn small so you would need a robot eye just to see it.

I saw on Discovery channel or some channel of its kind that a good diamond expert can easily tell the difference between a real diamond and a synthetic diamond putting it through some tests which I dont quite remember what they consisted of since I wasnt concentrated on the television at that time. I do remember that the synthetic diamonds are made of carbon but If you look on the net I think that youll definetely find that information.

I also heard some time ago that instead of having dead people cremated (where they turn them in to ashes, I dont quite know if that word is correct in english) they can turn the rests of people into some sort of synthetic diamond which is not quite a diamond but it looks like one.

The link in your post is about telling a real diamond from a cubic zirconia. That is simple for an expert to determine. What I am referring to is not a cubic zirconia. It is a diamond made in a controlled environment.

I believe one way to determine the difference (that I heard about) was using spectrometry. But I don't know the actual process for creating the spectral signature that someone would use to distinguish between a real and synthetic diamond.

The thing is, the girl mentioned in the article of my original post had created diamonds in her garage using a welding torch. Granted, they probably aren't gem grade diamonds, but it makes you wonder about those that people could create given the desire and equipment to do so.

hey if you can't tell, i can't tell, and its cheap, i wouldn't care if its fake or not. but i always though you can test a diamond out by just taking out a hammar and smash both. whichever one breaks first is the fake diamond

Quite true. Nowadays, new diamonds are engraved with a special laser. It is also true that they were created by a U.S. Navy research lab, but it was not called the "US Naval Agency".

Because a diamond is just an overly-priced, beautiful, perfect piece of compressed carbon, a similar compound can be produced by artificially compressing carbon. According to one statement on the TV show JAG (which is an American show based on actual facts and written with actual courtroom scenes made with the guidance of a Naval Reserve JAG lawyer), "They cost the Navy next to nothing to make..."

Slightly off topic: If there's anybody else out there who watches or watched JAG, there were around two or three episodes several years ago concerning synthetic diamonds produced by the Navy and illegally sold. The plot also involves the CIA, which apparently wants them for a weapon chemical, biological, or nuclear in origin.

-Frederick Ding

This might also be considered off-topic, but greatly involves synthetic diamonds:
Several episodes preceding the ones directly concerning synthetic diamonds, Lieutenant Colonel Mackenzie was operating undercover for the CI