How to choose the best fake diamond ring

If you’re in the market for a beautiful, affordable, and ethical alternative to a real diamond, a fake diamond ring might be the perfect choice for you. This guide to buying the best fake diamond ring will help you navigate the world of simulated diamonds and cubic zirconia.

What is a Fake Diamond Ring?

A fake diamond ring, also known as a simulated diamond ring, is a ring that features a gemstone designed to look like a diamond. These stones are not made of carbon crystals like real diamonds. In fact the most fake diamonds are lab created. The best fake diamond rings tend use cubic zirconia, moissanite or white sapphire for the gemstone.

Why Choose a Fake Diamond Ring?

There are several reasons why you might choose a fake diamond ring over a real one. First, they are significantly more affordable than real diamonds. Second, they are a more ethical choice, as the diamond mining industry is often associated with human rights abuses and environmental damage. Third, there are situations, like travel, where fake diamond rings make sense. Lastly, modern technology has made it possible to create fake diamonds that look almost identical to the real thing, making them an attractive option for those on a budget.

Understanding Simulated Diamonds

Simulated diamonds are a type of fake diamond that are designed to mimic the look, feel, and sparkle of real diamonds as closely as possible. They are made from various materials, with the most common being cubic zirconia, moissanite and white sapphire.   Crystal glass, made popular by the Swarovski® brand is another example of simulated diamond.   It’s not generally recommended for the best fake diamond rings.  This is  because its low hardness means it’s too susceptible to scratches and chips.

Cubic Zirconia

According to IGS, a leading gemstone authority, cubic zirconia is a great diamond lookalike.   Cubic zirconia (“CZ”) is a synthetic gemstone that is durable, affordable, and visually similar to a diamond.  CZ is a popular choice for the best fake diamond rings due to its brilliance, sparkle and close visual likeness to diamond.   CZ stones are nearly always colorless (a perfect D color) and flawless in clarity (equiv. to IF or FL grade).   Indeed, its perfection that’s the most common giveaway that cubic zirconia is not a real diamond.

PHOTO: Because of its low cost, durability, and close visual likeness to diamond, CZ is widely considered as one of the best simulated diamonds.   Many of the best fake diamond rings available today use cubic zirconia.  [Source:  Luxuria Diamonds]

Moissanite

Moissanite is another popular choice for simulated diamonds.  While being 10 times more expensive than cubic zirconia it is far more durable.  This makes Moissanite ideal for everyday wear.   Moissanite has a Refractive Index (RI) of 2.65 whereas diamond’s RI is lower at 2.42 and CZ at 2.18.   This means moissanite has a higher dispersion of light, giving it much more fire than natural diamond.

White Sapphire

White sapphire is another popular option for the best fake diamond ring.    Unlike cubic zirconia, moissanite and crystal, white sapphire is a natural simulant.  Sapphire is a member of the corundum family, a precious gemstone.   White sapphire is harder than CZ.   On the downside, white sapphire can be less brilliant and sparkly than CZ or Moissanite.   It is also more expensive.

How to Choose the Best Fake Diamond Ring

When choosing a fake diamond ring, there are several factors to consider.   These factors are the quality of the stone, the material of the setting, the gemstone size and matching gemstone shape to your hand.  It’s also a good idea to read independent reviews of fake engagement rings. We offer our professional advice including tips and reasons why on each in turn below.

Inspect the Quality of the Stone

Look for a stone that is “eye clean”.   An “eye-clean” diamond simulant is one that has no imperfections visible to the unaided eye.    Imperfections can include visible inclusions or blemishes.   No flaws should be visible to the unaided eye when viewed from a distance of about 6″ to 12″.

The cut of the simulated diamond should also be well-executed.   No one wants to wear a ring that screams fake.   When considering your options for the best fake diamond rings pay very careful attention to stone cut.   Regardless of the material you start with, if the stones are not cut correctly, they will not have the brilliance and sparkle that maximizes their beauty.    Furthermore, many low cost fake diamond rings use crystal glass or low grade CZ such as grade 3A.  Such simulants won’t sparkle realistically or for long!

PHOTO: The quality of the cut will determine the stones brilliance and sparkle.   The best fake diamond rings use precision cut stones. Seen above, LEFT, is a Grade 6A CZ H&A mounted stone.  Note the arrows are faintly visible.   To the RIGHT the unmounted stone under a special viewer scope.   [Source:   Luxuria Diamonds]

Our tip.   For cubic zirconia, look for grade 5A or 6A.   Better still, for round cut CZ stones select those with a hearts and arrows pattern.     Why?   CZ when cut with this level of precision will be visibly whiter and brighter than most natural diamonds you’ll find mounted in your typical ‘middle market’ engagement ring.

Check the Setting

When looking for the best fake diamond ring, don’t just pay attention to the stone.  The mount and setting of a ring are also incredibly important.   A poor mounting or setting is a dead giveaway for a fake ring.

Very cheap fake diamond rings are often a compromise.  The manufacturer is able to offer very low prices because the quality of materials used to manufacture the ring are also very low.   Simulated diamond rings that sell for a few bucks don’t use precious metals like silver.   Many are set in a base metal like brass, zinc alloy or copper.  Some contain dangerous metals such as lead or nickle which can cause skin allergies.   Yet other rings are marked as 925 silver or gold but in fact are only thinly plated in these precious metals.

Leading diamond authority, GIA, notes that real diamonds always have high-quality settings.   Our guide to buying the best fake diamond ring recommends your ring is made of quality metals such as silver or gold.

Our tip.   Stay clear of cheap rings which are described as ‘silver tone’.   Silver tone jewellery refers to pieces which are silver in colour but not made from silver.  When buying the best fake diamond rings look for rings set in 925 silver.  Better still look for 925 rings which are rhodium plated.   Why?   Rhodium is harder than silver, gold, and many other metals.   Rhodium protective barrier shields jewelry from scratches and tarnishing and increases the durability of your ring.   Moreover, because rhodium is hypoallergenic, the wearer is less likely to experience skin reactions or irritations.

Keep the gemstone size modest

When considering how to choose the fake diamond ring remember that the size of the central stone matters.  With replica diamonds, big isn’t always better.  Why? In most cases, the larger the stone, the more obvious it is that it’s fake.

For example a key visual difference between moissanite and diamond is dispersion.    When you rotate a Moissanite stone the emission is more of a ‘rainbow effect’ while diamonds reflect whiter light.   The dreaded ‘rainbow effect’ is only heightened when the size of the Moissanite stone increases.  If realism is important to you then keep stone sizes relatively small.

When pondering the best fake diamond ring, please also consider your lifestyle and activities.   A larger stone needs to be worn with care, as it poses a higher risk of being knocked and damaged due to its size.  Therefore, if you have a physical job or a very active lifestyle, we’d advise you to choose a smaller centre stone.

PHOTO: In this guide to buying the best fake diamond ring we recommend avoiding large stones.    The reason is smaller diamond simulants look more realistic than larger ones.   This is especially true for large Moissanite stones where an accentuated ‘rainbow effect’ is a dead giveaway.    [Source:  Fotor]

Our Tip.   Since diamond simulant rings are cheap its tempting to ‘go big’ with the gemstone.   Don’t.   Why?   First, smaller simulants, especially Moissanite, look more realistic than larger ones.   Second, larger stones obviously present a much larger surface area for potential damage or scratches.   Moreover, scratches and marks are more noticeable on a larger stone.

Match the stone shape to your finger

Our guide to buying the best fake diamond ring would not be complete without mentioning the vital importance of matching the stone shape to your finger.  All to often our eyes fall in love with a particular ring design.   But upon purchase we are disappointed to find the design doesn’t suit our hand.   This is such a big issue we’ve written a separate guide.    Please read how to choose an engagement ring to suit my hand.    Below is a condensed summary of best fake diamond ring choices for different finger types.

Stone shapes for shorter fingers

Leading diamond authority GIA notes women often seek a look that makes their shorter fingers appear longer.   By virtue of their shape, marquise, oval, rectangular and pear shaped diamonds are good engagement ring styles for a longer look.  These elongated stone shapes have a “north-south axis” that can accentuate the length of the finger.

Flattering stone shapes for larger fingers

Women with larger fingers enjoy a variety of options. In general, a stone of larger size is recommended. Preferably, choose a wide stone over a narrow one, to deemphasize the width of the finger. A medium to wide ring band is also recommended.

Stone shapes for thin fingers

Small rings tend to look best on petite or thin fingers.  A big ring or gemstone is likely to overwhelm the hand and make the finger appear even smaller.    The best imitation diamond shapes for thin fingers are round brilliants and princess cuts.   Simple designs are also best for thin fingers.

Read independent Reviews

Relevant independent publications like BRIDES magazine (USA) routinely evaluate and recommend jewelry.

For example, read BRIDES 2023 review of the 20 best fake engagement rings for travel HERE.    BRIDES notes that the best fake diamond rings use quality materials.   BRIDES further adds that good fake diamond rings should look genuine with a passing glance.     We wholeheartedly agree.

Another trust source for the evaluation of the best fake diamond rings is TRAVEL + LEISURE.   Travel + Leisure is a travel magazine based in New York city.   Check out their 18 Best Fake Engagement Rings evaluation and recommendations.

PHOTO: An example of an independent review.    Such reviews are useful to help answer the questions of how to choose the best fake diamond ring.  Publications like Travel + Leisure of NY, USA, evaluates various jewelry items to make recommendations to readers.  [Source:  Travel + Leisure]

Summing it up: How to Choose the Best Fake Diamond Ring

The very best fake diamond rings are those that resemble the real thing as close as possible.   Nobody wants to wear a ring that screams fake.

In this guide to buying the best fake diamond ring we have identified five areas to focus your attention.  This is so you can achieve a good result.

The five area’s are;  first, choosing a great diamond simulant.    We recommend Moissanite or cubic zirconia.   Second,  inspect the stone quality.  The stone needs to be precision cut and colorless.   We recommend grade 5A or 6A CZ.   Third, check the setting.   Look for a setting made of quality materials such as 925 silver or gold.  Fourth, keep the gemstone size modest.  This is because smaller simulants look more realistic than larger ones.    Finally, match the stone shape to your finger.

We hope you found this guide useful and encourage further reading referenced below.

About Us & Further Reading

Luxuria® Diamonds is a designer and marketer of diamond simulant and gemstone (natural and synthetic) engagement rings.   Luxuria is a professional member of the International Gem Society (IGS), USA.

Interested in reading more about fake engagement rings?  Read our authority post to learn 7 reasons why fake engagement rings are so popular.

Much confusion exists on the qualities of two commonly available diamond simulants, moissanite and CZ.   Read this educational post on Moissanite vs. cubic zirconia, which looks most like a real diamond.