# Can a real diamond be chipped/cracked with anything other than another diamond? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 7, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-real-diamond-be-chipped-cracked-with-anything-other-than-another-diamond/351756 "2006-04-07T18:23:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cruel\_butterfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5daacb/32.png) [@cruel\_butterfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cruel_butterfly)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-real-diamond-be-chipped-cracked-with-anything-other-than-another-diamond/351756/1 "2006-04-07T18:23:53Z")
I noticed the other day that there is a small chip in the side of the center diamond on my engagement ring. Could I have put it through enough abuse to actually chip it myself, or have I stumbled upon a reason to have my ring looked at by someone other than the jeweler who set the stones in my ring? The ring is always on my finger (unless I am applying lotion or hair gel, then it’s on a towel). I’ve never dropped it. It never comes into contact with any other diamonds since the ring has on it the only diamonds I own. Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-real-diamond-be-chipped-cracked-with-anything-other-than-another-diamond/351756/2 "2006-04-07T18:28:50Z")
Just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it can’t be chipped by physical force. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-real-diamond-be-chipped-cracked-with-anything-other-than-another-diamond/351756/3 "2006-04-07T18:31:52Z")
A really big hammer. ---
**Author:** ![cruel\_butterfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5daacb/32.png) [@cruel\_butterfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cruel_butterfly)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-real-diamond-be-chipped-cracked-with-anything-other-than-another-diamond/351756/4 "2006-04-07T18:39:07Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > Just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it can’t be chipped by physical force. So it’s possible that I knocked it against something with enough force to damage it? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-real-diamond-be-chipped-cracked-with-anything-other-than-another-diamond/351756/5 "2006-04-07T18:47:05Z")
Certainly. That’s the basis of classic “diamond cutting” Don’t confuse scratching with causing fracture (which is what diamond cutting is). You can’t scratch something with anything softer (that’s the basis for “scratch testing” and the hardness scale), but you can cause it to break with something softer. That seems contradictory, but isn’t. Fracture occurs when you cause rank and file of a crystal structure to separate along a well-defined Cleavage Plane. It only works along those planes, and not in any general direction. Scratching is causing the surface of one item to mar or distort the surface of another, along any direction. I’ve done a lot of cystal cleavage – I used to grow my own laser crystals. You can do it with a razor blade and a hammer, for many crystals. My advisor was really good, and used a double-edged razor blade with no hammer. You couldn’t do this with a diamond. It’s too tough – you need a hammer and a steel wedge. Some optical crystals, they recommend you use a lathe tool, ground down to a chisel point. The crystal only cleaves along certain directions, defined by the crystal structure. Diamand has a characteristic structure that differs from most others, but it cleaves into an octohedral form similar to that of fluorite crystals 9which have a very different structure). That’s why we call that rhombic shape a “diamond”, especially for the suit of cards. Nowadays we have special cutting and grinding materials that let us shape diamonds, too, so we have more cuts for diamonds. ---
**Author:** ![cruel\_butterfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5daacb/32.png) [@cruel\_butterfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cruel_butterfly)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-real-diamond-be-chipped-cracked-with-anything-other-than-another-diamond/351756/6 "2006-04-07T19:00:12Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > \You couldn’t do this with a diamond. It’s too tough – you need a hammer and a steel wedge. Some optical crystals, they recommend you use a lathe tool, ground down to a chisel point. When I work behind the bar, could the impact of my ring up against the side of the reach-in beer cooler cause a fracture of the diamond? How much force is needed? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-real-diamond-be-chipped-cracked-with-anything-other-than-another-diamond/351756/7 "2006-04-07T19:07:59Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > cystal cleavage Stripper name! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-real-diamond-be-chipped-cracked-with-anything-other-than-another-diamond/351756/8 "2006-04-07T19:22:29Z")
> [@](#): > > When I work behind the bar, could the impact of my ring up against the side of the reach-in beer cooler cause a fracture of the diamond? > > How much force is needed? Damned if I know – I never got a change to cut diamond. I spent a whole day in the diamond district in NYC trying to talk to people about this. I suppose it’s possible, but it would depend on this crystal itself and how you hit it. It seems unlikely, but if a crack had already been started by, say, a previous impact, it might get enlarged by a subsequent later smaller impact. But that’s just guessing. And “Crystal Cleavage” (or “Kristal Kleevage”, or any variation thereof) _would_ make a good stripper name. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-real-diamond-be-chipped-cracked-with-anything-other-than-another-diamond/351756/9 "2006-04-07T20:30:21Z")
I think it is all in the angle and spot where you hit the diamond. My mother chipped her diamond engagement ring while cleaning a toilet. I would imagine that it is quite likely that you could chip yours on a reach-in beer cooler or maybe even a beer bottle.