Paste diamond

Necklace with paste stones
MFA# 64.661

Description

Leaded glass stones

An inexpensive, imitation Diamond Gemstone. Paste diamonds are composed of a hard, highly refractive, Lead glass. They lack the double refraction and regular molecular arrangement of true gem crystals (Brady 1971).

See Imitation diamond for other types of simulated diamonds.

Synonyms and Related Terms

strass; rhinestone; lead glass; imitatie-diamant (Ned.)

Physical and Chemical Properties

Dispersion >0.02; low thermal conductivity

Mohs Hardness	5.0 - 6.0
Density	2.4-4.2 g/ml
Refractive Index	1.67

Comparisons

Natural and Simulated Diamonds

Resources and Citations

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 364

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_simulant (Accessed Feb. 2, 2006)