In this paper, the thermal wave technique and microfocus Raman spectroscopy are used to measure the relative quality of thin diamond films deposited on silicon. The thermal wave technique uses a modulated heating laser beam, normal to the diamond film surface, to initiate a thermal wave which propagates into the film, the substrate, and the overlying gas(ses). The accompanying modulated gas density is then interrogated by a second (probe) laser beam. The probe beam is deflected by the corresponding periodic changes in the gradient of the refractive index of the gas. The measured probe beam deflection versus offset position is fitted, using a theoretical solution of the three-dimensional thermal diffusion equation for the gas/film/substrate system. The physically important fitting parameter is the thermal diffusivity of the diamond film. Thermal conductivities derived from our diffusivity measurements using this method compare well to previous measurements on similarly prepared films by other methods. Our measured values for the thermal conductivity of the highest-quality polycrystalline diamond films are of the order of 12 W/cm-K. Our measured values of thermal conductivity for diamond films range between this value and the thermal conductivity of graphite. We have also made measurements on bulk diamond using the thermal wave technique, and we obtain a thermal conductivity of 21 W/cm-K, in excellent agreement with values found in the literature. A multi-scan, microfocus ratio of “graphitic” material to diamond material for a relative assessment of film quality.