Based on visual appearances I would say Moissanite Diamond most likely. A natural diamond has only 1 starations along cuts. A Mossanite has double cuts along cut lines. If under microscope you see 2 identical lines then lab created Moissanite. If 1 line then typically a natural Diamond. Few caveats occur: Moissanite has brighter visuals while viewing in lights. Natural Diamond appears dull compared a Moissanite. The better buy for me is Moissanite.
Current Retail price for Moissanite per retailers $2,132 per carat. 10% of natural Diamond retail price.
Natural Diamond retail price $21,320 per carat.
Natural Diamonds are
I was offered 5% of retail price for my loose gems. Not bad for a 1st time purchase of loose gems which cost me $20,000 basis for 10,000 loose gems.
- Gem submitted for certification came back 19.49 carat sapphire dark pink Fusia with round cut retail value $19,490
Total cost for everything was 10,000 gems maybe more.
1 was gem is a break even on entire purchase. Me thinks I did ok. I will keep everything acquired…
Hi, a very good estimate of the stone’s S.G. is got by measuring the mass in carats (A), the Diameter in mm (B), the depth in mm (C) and using the formula SG = A/(BBC*0.0018). I have found that this gives a slightly elevated value but should be good enough to check for diamond SG of 3.50 to 3.53. Have fun. Adrian
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Adrian,
Thank you! Will that formula work for other gemstones as well?
Cheers!
Chances are slim anyone is going guess based on a couple photos only but I’m going to suggest that this stone is somewhat Windowed (or at least appears to be) which I’d doubt you’d find in the vast majority of all Diamonds. Of course, it’s difficult to even say that because the further any stone tilts, the more likely it’s going to Window at some point. That said, the 2nd image where the photo shows some Blue, appears that we’re looking straight down at the Table and it still appears to be windowing at least to some degree.
At the Very Least, you need to conduct a Specific Gravity Test. A hardness test would be helpful too because if it is a Diamond, you won’t have anything in your home that will scratch it other than another Diamond. If Nothing Scratches it, things are looking up. But if a fingernail file or jacknife scratches it, it is definitely NOT a Diamond.
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In an answer to your question about SG. YES. Specific Gravity Tests can be conducted on ANY Solid Material.
I have just attached and image with the Formula for SG as determined with Scales and a cup of water and something to support the stone. There are several Short Youtube Videos that show this simple process.
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don’t do any potentially destructive test when non destructive tests can be done at home. Specific gravity as pointed out previously is easy to do. you need a millgram sensivity balance scale and you are all set… just weight the stone in air, weight it in water and calculate the ratio of weight in air versus weight in distilled water… as in Snow Tiger’s equation… using a small plastic net to hold the stone is one way… a cup holder will also work because the weight of what ever is holding your stone gets subtracted out when ratios are calculated… the balance scale has to be sensitive which means that it’s able to weight very light objects and discriminate the weight… precision is also important but means that you get the same or very close to the same measurement everytime you measure the same thing… accuracy is less important… accuracy means how true each measurement is to the real weight… accuracy errors in measurement are subtracted out by the ratios…
any ideal measurement should have high sensitivity, precision and accuracy… but doesn’t always occur in real life…
if you buy a balance keep these factors in mind.
another way of thinking of precision and accuracy is that if a marksman shooter has a shot group on a target tightly clustered close together but off the bulls’ eye, the instrument (in this case a rifle) is precise… if the shot on average is on the bullseye but scattered around it, the instrument or the shooter himself is accurate but less precise…the analogy to sensitivity in this case would be if the marksman is not able to see the target clearly because it’s too far away… using a high powered scope will allow him to see the bulls eye and the rings…and increase his eyesight sensitivity, allowing for the best sensitivity, by adjusting the scope, the marksman can adjust for accuracy, but if he’s not a skilled shooter, the scatter about the bulls eye will be wide, even though the average of the shots is on the bulls eye… his precision will still be off even if his accuracy is on average perfect…
Any measuring device should have the requisite characteristics of sensitivity, precision and accuracy…if you already have a sensitive and precise balance scale, your specific gravity measurements would be good…
The discussion is moot at this point because you did the “flame test” and destroyed the simulant gemstone…which fortunately was CZ which is very cheap… don’t do destructive testing when it can be avoided… specific gravity is a good start, but other measurements to confirm ID will be needed to confirm the identity of what you have…PRECIDIUM electronic gem testers based on REFLECTIVITY rather than actual refractive index are good for measuring the imputed refractive index on a large range of gemstones and simulants… their THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY testers claim enough sensitivity to distinquish between silicate stones… however, even their own charts show a wide overlap… Moissanite simulants can be distinquished from simulants, as moissanite, like diamond has a high thermal conductivity. measuring silicate stones is still a matter of splitting hairs… standard thermal conductivity testing may not be able to measure the difference between moissanite and diamond whether synthetic or natural… diamond is the highest, but moissanite is also high… if the machine is not sensitive enough or accurate enough, it will not distinguish between the two.
Sorry about the long winded discussion, but it’s important to know these distinctions when buying any instrument…all instruments have limitations in one or more of the above… none can have all three characteristics simultaneously as one of them has to be balanced against the others,
don’t do any potentially destructive test when non destructive tests can be done at home. Specific gravity as pointed out previously is easy to do. you need a millgram sensivity balance scale and you are all set… just weight the stone in air, weight it in water and calculate the ratio of weight in air versus weight in distilled water… as in Snow Tiger’s equation… using a small plastic net to hold the stone is one way… a cup holder will also work because the weight of what ever is holding your stone gets subtracted out when ratios are calculated… the balance scale has to be sensitive which means that it’s able to weight very light objects and discriminate the weight… precision is also important but means that you get the same or very close to the same measurement everytime you measure the same thing… accuracy is less important… accuracy means how true each measurement is to the real weight… accuracy errors in measurement are subtracted out by the ratios…
any ideal measurement should have high sensitivity, precision and accuracy… but doesn’t always occur in real life…
if you buy a balance keep these factors in mind.
another way of thinking of precision and accuracy is that if a marksman shooter has a shot group on a target tightly clustered close together but off the bulls’ eye, the instrument (in this case a rifle) is precise… if the shot on average is on the bullseye but scattered around it, the instrument or the shooter himself is accurate but less precise…the analogy to sensitivity in this case would be if the marksman is not able to see the target clearly because it’s too far away… using a high powered scope will allow him to see the bulls eye and the rings…and increase his eyesight sensitivity, allowing for the best sensitivity, by adjusting the scope, the marksman can adjust for accuracy, but if he’s not a skilled shooter, the scatter about the bulls eye will be wide, even though the average of the shots is on the bulls eye… his precision will still be off even if his accuracy is on average perfect…
Any measuring device should have the requisite characteristics of sensitivity, precision and accuracy…if you already have a sensitive and precise balance scale, your specific gravity measurements would be good…
The discussion is moot at this point because you did the “flame test” and destroyed the simulant gemstone…which fortunately was CZ which is very cheap… don’t do destructive testing when it can be avoided… specific gravity is a good start, but other measurements to confirm ID will be needed to confirm the identity of what you have…PRECIDIUM electronic gem testers based on REFLECTIVITY rather than actual refractive index are good for measuring the imputed refractive index on a large range of gemstones and simulants… their THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY testers claim enough sensitivity to distinquish between silicate stones… however, even their own charts show a wide overlap… Moissanite simulants can be distinquished from simulants, as moissanite, like diamond has a high thermal conductivity. measuring silicate stones is still a matter of splitting hairs… standard thermal conductivity testing may not be able to measure the difference between moissanite and diamond whether synthetic or natural… diamond is the highest, but moissanite is also high… if the machine is not sensitive enough or accurate enough, it will not distinguish between the two.
Sorry about the long winded discussion, but it’s important to know these distinctions when buying any instrument…all instruments have limitations in one or more of the above… none can have all three characteristics simultaneously as one of them has to be sacrificed to be balanced against the others,
!
Yes but you need to change formula to change the diameter squared to length by breadth and the the 0.0018 as follows
Cabs High dome 0.0026 Low dome 0.0029
Oval0.0020
square 0.0024
rectangle 0.0026
Pear 0.0018 Heart 0.0021
Look up estimated weights on internet for further info.
Good luck. Adrian
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Adrian,
Thanks for the clarification! Good information and appreciate the advice.
-Troy
Thanks for the information! It is good to see others confirm the questions and verify the processes to collect data on a stone! 
Cheers!.
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Hi Steven … I just wanted to add my two cents to your comments for our interested members. Take a 10x loupe and look through a bezel Kite facet down to the culet. If you see 2 culets and or facet meet doubling you most likely have a Moissanite. Recall that Moissanite is doubly refractive and diamond is singly refractive; a diamond will show only one culet and no facet meet doubling). Next expose the stone to LW UV light. In nature, 1 in 5 natural diamonds (20%) will fluoresce light blue. IF it fluoresces light blue (containing Nitrogen atoms in the lattice) it is a natural diamond. Lab created diamonds and HPHT treated diamonds contain no Nitrogen atoms in their lattices, which are type 2a, and won’t fluoresce under LW UV. Lastly, place the stone in a water filled immersion cell between cross polarized filters. Observe the strain interference patterns. The strain patterns are diagnostic of natural diamond if mottled and multi colored. I’ll supply a couple of photos. This works well on IF Clarity stones without any inclusions to see under microscopy. Many Lab Grown diamonds will have no strain pattern at all or it will look like you drew your fingernails across a blackboard (numerous heavy black parallel lines through the body of the diamond). Study the strain patterns in these 2 publications to gain expertise: AG&J’s "Natural or Synthetic Diamond (Identifying with CPF, DF and UV Light) by Dusan Simic AND "Diamonds Natural, Treated & Laboratory-Grown by Branko Deljanin [ISBN 978-1-7773692-2-4]. The photos below are from a fine diamond ring that came into my lab to see if it was a Natural Diamond or Not; The second photo is the strain interference pattern of that Natural Diamond. Enjoy. 
thanks you for contributiing straight foraward and very useful informtion on this topic. I do remember when GIA first reported a warning about NOT being able to distinquish lab created versus natural diamonds… that was over 4 or 5 years ago… they stated that x ray diffraction, physical and chemical tests and other available means at that that time were not able to distinquish natural from synthetic. I also remember the Goldschimdt conference in Honolulu in 2022, when one of their researchers gave a presentation in this regards stating that they WERE able to distinquish natural from synthetic… since the alarm was first sent out, many visual techniques, some of which are simple, straight forward and practical, as your suggestions are, have been published. strain patterns, growth lines, and characteristic inclusions in both vapor deposition and HPHT lab created diamonds have been published by the GIA… with CVD diamonds, sometimes it’s still difficult or impossible to tell graphite inclusions from natural…however the pattern of inclusions gives a clue to the origin… with HPTP diamond grown with iron catalysts, metallic iron inclusions are usually present. Many other distinguishing characteristics have been published since…I also absolutely agree that telling moissanite from diamond is not difficult…
Your suggestions are invaluable, and easy to do…and within reach of a home jeweler… Again, thank you for the great tips… Best wishes for the rest of this new year…
