Post # 1
Member
3 posts
Wannabee
After reading a lot about diamond alternatives, I’ve learned that one of the biggest differences between diamonds and moissanites is that moissanites have very colorful rainbow sparkles, whereas diamonds have mostly white sparkles.
My diamond has extremely colorful reflections in a lot of different lighting conditions. Infact, that was one of the reasons we picked out the stone in the first place, I thought it was beautiful! It came with a GIA certificate, F color, triple excellent cut, no florescence. It is probably just me being paranoid, but is this normal?
I can’t find any other threads about colorful reflections in diamonds, so I became nervous we were sold something else. The only other easy test I could find to tell if it was a diamond was the “fog test” which of course it failed, but probably only because it was dirty? Any opinions, comments, pictures or advice is appreciated! thanks bees.
Post # 3
Member
1784 posts
Buzzing bee
Totally normal. Diamonds are supposed to have fire, and certain lights will cause more rainbows than others. Moissanite has more fire, but that doesn’t mean diamonds have no fire.
ETA: I just played with fogging up both my diamond and my moissanite, and they acted about the same. The moissanite may have taken a second longer to unfog.
Post # 4
Member
569 posts
Busy bee
@FR825: ya that’s my favorite type… the ones that sparkle rainboe colors!
Post # 5
Member
569 posts
Busy bee
My diamond willreflect little specs of rainbow color ! Here the diamonds are reflecting color (Below is a blurry pic tho you can see the colors ) 
Post # 6
Member
1880 posts
Buzzing bee
Diamonds do have rainbow reflections (commonly called “fire”). A LOT of how much you will see them has to do with the particulars of the cut (because that determines how the light reflects back to your eye). Well-cut old cuts like old cushion cuts and old european cuts frequently have a lot, as higher crown angles usually produce more fire. Ideal/Excellent cut round diamonds are cut to balance white light and fire – white light will make a diamond appear brighter while fire will make it more characteristically sparkly. Badly cut diamonds often don’t really have either, from what I’ve seen. Dirty diamonds aren’t going to sparkle as much – and MOST people’s diamonds are FILTHY. The type of lighting you’re in will also affect which sparkles you see. Basically you see colored sparkles when the wavelength returning to your eye is like wider than what your eye can read, or something, and the “spillover” is what your eye is seeing as color. OR SOMETHING. You can read all about it on the intarwebs.
So yes, rainbow sparkles are perfectly normal, especially in a GIA-XXX, is the short version.
Post # 7
Member
6355 posts
Bee Keeper
Diamond’s got plenty of fire, which can come in every color, but moissanite… it’s just a different look, much more broken up and “rainbowy,” even inside. It’s pretty much all fire, not white light return, and the fire is of a different nature. It’s kinda hard to describe to somone until they’ve seen both. Look up cerussite, it behaves more like moissanite than diamond does.
Post # 8
Member
6741 posts
Bee Keeper
Oh yeah, I nearly get into accidents every day on my way to/from work because of how my diamond sparkles rainbow fire in the sun LOL
Post # 9
Member
5400 posts
Bee Keeper
Like PPs have said, fire is totally normal and desirable in a diamond! The thing is moissanite sparkles in a completely different way. It looks like a hologram, and it kind of “glitters” more than sparkles. The facets aren’t as crisp and the sparkles aren’t as big, they look like smaller sparkles.
Post # 11
Member
1784 posts
Buzzing bee
@FutureMrsMcLaughin: I can only catch the rainbows in blury pictures too. Stupid rocks.
Diamond:
Moissanite:
Post # 12
Member
1784 posts
Buzzing bee
@joya_aspera: I’d never heard of cerussite before. Holy shit, I need one of these, like now.
Post # 13
Member
569 posts
Busy bee
@Jabberwocky: Ohhh science lol
Post # 14
Member
1784 posts
Buzzing bee
@FutureMrsMcLaughin: Stupid laws of physics. Never let me do anything fun.
Post # 15
Member
2050 posts
Buzzing bee
@Jabberwocky: WOW! LOL sparkly.
Post # 16
Member
3688 posts
Sugar bee
Many people have never seen a well-cut, high quality diamond — they definitely throw a lot of fire!
Member