What is the best way to tell if a gem is fake?

Question

i have a few gemstones i won in an auction. what is the best way to determine if they are real or not? i do not want to take them to a jewelers just yet, cause that will probably cost money to get them looked at....

Answer 1

wieght vs volume
find out what the stones should weigh per unit of volume. measure their volume by dropping them in a graduated cylinder and recording the water level before you drop it in and after.
the difference is your volume.
wiegh the stone and see how closley it resembles the wieght it should.

not going to be exact, because of natural flaws in stone making them a bit off with the weight, but it will give you a guess of whether they could be real or not.

Answer 2

I do not want to sound depressing but without a lot of training and experience you have no chance at all. I have been a professional gemmologist for over 40 years and I would be very wary of buying gems on the street. Of course there are many stones that can be detected at a glance but without years of experience even that can be tricky in the bustle of a street market. A cautionary story was when a woman came into my London office and asked if I was interested in black star sapphires to which my reply was "Yes" she opened a large parcel of stones on my desk and I turned them down without even picking a single stone up. Across the desk I could see she had black star enstatite worth almost nothing compared to the black star sapphire she thought she had bought. She went away in tears as she had emptied her bank account and also borrowed money to by these stones which were "guaranteed" to make her a small fortune. I felt terrible but all I could do was send her to another expert to have my diagnosis confirmed. All I can say is if it looks too good to be true it probably is too good to be true and never, never spend more than you can afford to loose.

Answer 3

There is really no way for you to test these stones at home. I see from the answers you have had that density has been mentioned but to have any value at all it needs to be worked out to at least the second place in decimals to have any value which is impossible at home without special equipment. Most jewellers will look at stones and give you an idea if they are worth testing free of charge and if the answer is positive the charges should be moderate. All of the "old wives tales" like cutting glass are a total waste of time so you need to be prepared to invest a small sum to be sure.

Answer 4

With most gemstones even a jeweller won't be able to tell for 100% what they are just by inspecting them. They need spectral, and specific gravity tests to be sure. There is no easy way for the "average" person to tell. You need to take them to a Lapidary (stone specialist).

Answer 5

Have it inspected by several jewelers. Some of them buy jewels, but do not sell them, they will always appraise low.

Answer 6

You can hit it with a very large hammer. If it breaks into a thousand pieces it was real.