I don’t look at jewelry so my information is no more than stray tidbits picked up in conversation or online. My understandng, however, is that the modern synthetics are “real” — i.e. identical to naturally occurring stones in all chemical and physical properties. Natural stones will have imperfections, fewer and smaller in high grade diamonds, but present nontheless. This is how experts can tell the two apart. I think the same is true of many other gemstones as well. I keep telling my daughters not to get sucked into the engagement ring racket; go buy a big stone that you like, synthetic in order to keep the price down. As a token of their beloved’s devotion, however, they should hold out for something of real and intrinsic value. Antique firearms are good and come in a wide enough range of pricepoints to suit most budgets. If the guy can’t ante up for at leadt an 1861 Springfield rifle, he’s probably not financially ready for marriage. Antique cars are fine too, but they are harder to hang on the wall.
LOL
Back when we were dating I told my husband that I didn’t need a diamond engagement ring, just a plain gold wedding band. He insisted so I have a diamond in my favorite cut plus a simple gold wedding band.
I love it, but my dad’s uncle was a jeweler so my mom had a full carat diamond. The shallow part of me would like that, too.
I thought there was something about artificial diamonds fluorescing.