Diamonds Are For Never

I  You know, I have never found a real diamond, and I thought all of that had changed in an instant. I wasn't even metal detecting--just walking along, looking at the ground for gold and diamonds, as I have a tendency to do, and there it was. I picked it up and thought, no, it couldn't be. The earring still had the clasp on the back, so it must have fallen out of someone' sprocket or purse, or was torn out in a terrible "cat fight" and flung aside in the melee. I pulled off the clasp and could see the number 925 imprinted on both pieces, so I knew it was real silver, at least, and that led me to believe that it may be a trinket of high enough quality to hold a real diamond. I stewed over it for a day or two, imagining how I would reuse the enormous rock in a new piece of jewelry designed by myself for Laura and trying to research diamond identification techniques online, which are ridiculously varied and complex, by the way. Never, do the "scratch test", by the way. It doesn't hold true and it ruins the diamond. Finally, I took it to a local jeweler and asked him what was up. He looked at it and said "Hmmm". It's an impressive looking stone, sparkling brightly and large enough to be quite valuable, were it authentic, which he then said it was not. "How do you know?" I asked him. He handed me his glass and said, "See the clear ring around the edge? That means it's cubic zirconium. Diamonds don't have that clear ring." We both laughed at my ignorance and I thanked him before going on my way. I have accepted his statement as truth, but I'm going for a second opinion anyway. Maybe he just hates people who find real diamonds and wants them to be very sad and depressed all the time.

  (Also, pardon the terrible state of my fingernails. Stonemasonry does a real number on my extremities.)