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I would put money that I am not the only girl out there sporting some fake diamonds. I can be seen sporting a good size cubic zirconia on my finger from time to time and don’t feel ashamed about it for a few reasons.

1. Cost: Lets keep it real, a carat of real diamond sells for an average of $8,000 while the diamond alternatives sell for much less. Moissanite is most similar to diamonds without being real diamond and that sells for an average of $500 a carat, Cubic Zirconia is similar enough the naked eye can’t tell the difference and sells for $50, and lab produced diamonds, which are real diamonds, sell for $3,200 a carat. Now some people own real diamonds, mostly being engagement or wedding rings, but if I had to open my pocketbook up for the jewels, I would opt to open my change jar and scrounge up the $50 compared to the $8,000 which is more than I paid for my used car.

What if your engagement ring was fake?

2. Look: I would put money down that most people can’t tell the difference between the real and fakes. If anything, real diamonds are the ones with the flaws. I don’t know of anything where you pay more for a flawed piece than a perfect one, besides with diamonds.

Can you tell the difference? (Keep in mind the silver is different, too. This makes a difference!)

3. Safety: I am not the paranoid type, but I am also realistic, thieves are out there. If I paid $8,000 for a piece of jewelry and it got stolen I would be irate, where-as losing my $50 piece doesn’t seem as bad. 

4. Extraction: Though the diamond industry sometimes denies it, blood diamonds are real things and called that for a reason. Many mined diamonds come from regions ravaged by war and violence. Also, many of the diamonds people so covet are an African person’s slavery. I prefer the fake that isn’t costing anyone blood, sweat, or tears.

5. Value: I have always been a “more for you money” type of person, so if I can rock a 1 carat cubic zirconia as compared to a quarter carat real diamond I opt for the big rock. Statement pieces are in this season and some small diamond is not going to make any statement except “I need a bigger rock.”

I will continue to wear my cubic zirconia ring loud and proud. It is the only icing I can afford at this time. Between you and me, I doubt all these celebrity and rappers’ icing too, that is up to you to decide though. Let me know what you are thinking. Are fakes as bad as some think? Are these celebrities just trying to fake us all out? Do you think you can tell the difference?

Flossin’ or Frontin’?

For 2024’s iteration of MadameNoire and HelloBeautiful’s annual series Women to Know, we knew we wanted to celebrate the people who help make the joys of film and television possible. To create art is to create magic. This year, we spotlight Hollywood Executive’s changing the face of cinema.