  Real diamond. (External Sample)
According to the data sheet, this diamond is 6.5mm in diameter, weighs 1.05 carets, and is VS2 clarity, G color. Apparently that makes it worth $14,000, or at least that's the size of the check I had to leave with the very kind and helpful jeweler when I borrowed it for an afternoon. I admit it is rather nice, but is it really 10,000 times nicer than a 10mm cubic zirconia, which costs about $1.40? Personally, for that kind of money, I think I'd rather have my sparklies by the bucket full. (Actually, that's not a fair comparison because $1.40 is a wholesale price. But it's a lot easier to buy CZ at wholesale prices than it is to buy a diamond that way, or even find out what the wholesale price of the diamond is. The diamond trade knows very well that their livelihood depends on keeping prices artificially high, so they protect their margins fiercely.)
The main difference I can see is that the real diamond shows more flashes of color, and of course it's harder. If you see dust on the surface, it's not for lack of trying. After getting prior approval from the jeweler, I cleaned it with Windex, steam, and alcohol. It got better, but when things are that small and that brightly illuminated, it's really hard to keep dust from settling back on them during the course of photography (which takes half an hour in my 360-degree rotational setup).
After this trashing of the value of diamonds, I would like to thank Christopher and Nate at Christopher's Fine Jewelry in Champaign, Illinois for letting me borrow this very fine diamond. I'm sure if money is no object, it would be a very nice thing to keep locked up in a safe deposit box where you never get to see it.
I chose this sample to represent its element in my Photographic Periodic Table Poster. The sample photograph includes text exactly as it appears in the poster, which you are encouraged to buy a copy of.
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Location: Christopher's Fine Jewelry
Photographed: 12 January, 2006
Text Updated: 13 August, 2006
Size: 0.25"
Purity: >99.9%
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