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It Turns Out Diamonds At Czech Museum Are Actually Fake

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The priceless diamonds at the National Museum in Prague are actually fake, according to a museum official.

Ivo Macek, the director of the museum of science, said the jewels are worthless fakes, reported Radio.cz. The museum acquired the five carat “diamonds” in the 1960s, but during an inspection, found they were actually cut glass. Lukáš Zahradníček, the head of the precious stones collection at the museum, first discovered that there were fake jewels in the collection. Museum officials also found that several rubies were synthetic, added Daily Mail.

“What we have here is still a sapphire, but it is not a natural stone as was documented when the museum gained it for its collection in the 1970s,” said Macek.

“And what we thought to be a 5-carat diamond was in fact plain glass given a diamond cutting,” added Macek.

The National Museum is currently carrying out an investigation to see if other artifacts are also synthetic. It is unclear if the precious stones collection had fakes when it was originally purchased or if they were replaced later. The inspection is expected to take until 2020. The renowned museum in the Czech Republic’s capital has approximately 20 million artifacts.

The museum is planning on celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Czech Republic with a reopening September 2018.

This post have been updated to reflect that Ivo Macek is the director of the museum of science.

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