Jewelers again failed the moissanite test-even as consumers passed it-in a recent test conducted by the ABC newsmagazine 20/20.

Five jewelers in the Washington, D.C., area misidentified a 1-ct. moissanite worth $600 as a diamond worth thousands, the show said. That’s an improvement from past TV news exposes, where nine out of ten jewelers were fooled by the diamond lookalike.

When the newsmagazine went to Manhattan’s Great Bridal Expo, three out of three women correctly picked the diamond out of a group that included a cubic zirconia and a moissanite.

The show compared moissanite to designer ”knock-offs” like fake Gucci handbags. ”If imitations are in, and fakes are fashionable, a lot of guys may be asking themselves, why buy a woman real diamonds when there are substitute stones that can fool even jewelers?” said reporter Arnold Diaz.

However, Diaz also noted that while ”diamond lookalikes may be fine with your valentine, don’t try to fool her. Women have a sixth sense about genuine gems.” Said one, interviewed on the show: ”It feels different when you’re wearing the real thing.”

Prior to the show, the abcnews.com Web site challenged viewers to tell a moissanite stone from a diamond based on three pictures. According to the show, 70% of viewers failed. The challenge can be viewed at http://abcnews.go.com/sections/2020/DailyNews/2020_010209_moisssanite.html.

JCK