The diamonds falling into the champagne range provide you with an opportunity to enjoy the splendor of diamonds with a distinct and individual personality. These unconventional beauties make for a bold fashion statement, versatile enough to be worn as separate pieces of jewelry or as adornments to distinct designer clothing. They also make wedding rings and engagement rings an opportunity to express the individual sensibility of your relationship. These colorful gemstones will alter your perception of the traditional diamond.
You may also find champagne diamonds referred to as simply brown diamonds. Their tasty appearance pervades the jewelry market with additional descriptive labels such cognac or, as trademarked by the Le Vian Corporation, chocolate diamonds. Note: One might call that champagne diamond ring image above a light brown diamond ring, but it can only be titled a “chocolate diamond” if it is cut, branded and sold by Le Vian.
Be sure to stick with reputable jewelers as dull or light yellow diamonds may simply be of low quality. These sparkly champagne stones should feature splendor, despite their occasional off-color appearance.
Table of Contents:
- What Is A Diamond?
- What Are Fancy Colored Diamonds?
- What Is A Champagne Diamond?
- Types of Champagne Diamond Jewelry
Disclaimer: I do not sell anything on this website. I do not have any kind of relationship with any retailer or manufacturer. This site is a personal interest website where I share my personal interest in champagne diamonds and provide information on their splendor and diversity. The term “chocolate diamonds” is trademarked by the Le Vian Corporation, but I do not have any relationship with them. I just happen to like their stuff, so I occasionally write about it.
What Is A Diamond?
A diamond, named for the Greek term for “unalterable”, is a crystal with transparency featuring tetrahedral bonded carbon atoms. The origins of this particular stone begin in India along the Krishna, Godavari and Penner rivers where alluvial deposits of this precious gemstone were discovered several centuries ago and are believed to have been treasured as much as 6000 years ago.
Mineralogy considers a stone displaying a lattice structure (a divergence of a face-centered cubic crystal structure) within its allotrope of carbon to be a diamond. Diamonds exhibit fantastic physical strength with relatively little weight originating from the covalent bonding among their atoms.
This stone’s splendid optical qualities derive from its rigid lattice, which allows contamination from few impurities (nitrogen and carbon, for example). It also features exceptional optical dispersion. This means it has an uncanny capacity to disperse light of widely varied color. This ability provides a diamond its distinct and desired luster.
Dispersing pure white light into a wide spectrum of color is a key gemological attribute exhibited by gem diamonds. The diamond trade, represented by organizations such as the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), has developed structured methods for grading diamonds and determining their value as gemstones. The industry now widely uses the Four Cs to communicate the fundamental attributes determining the quality of a diamond: carat, cut, color and clarity. Large flawless diamonds are called paragons.
What Are Fancy Colored Diamonds?
Trace amounts of impurities bring color to these gems. Boron brings blue, nitrogen manifests as yellow, lattice defects create a brownish tone and a combination of these may result in pink, green, purple and red diamonds.
With strict, traditional white diamonds, clarity epitomizes their value. However, clarity is not paramount with fancy color diamonds. They are still graded by clarity, but a champagne diamond can grade as “eye clean” or SI (inclusions are imperceptible to your naked eye) and still provide tremendous value and splendor. The color of these champagne diamonds often obscures inclusions such as pinpoints or feathers. Some rare diamonds may still feature a clarity grade of VS, but they are extremely uncommon and thus will command a steep price indeed.
Pink and canary yellow diamonds may be the most expensive and desired among champagne diamonds, but as the industry evolves people are appreciating a broader spectrum of these uniquely colored gems like the rich and stunning cognac diamond ring.
What Is A Champagne Diamond?
Simply put, a champagne diamond is any natural diamond with a brownish hue to it. However, there are a wide range of color grades which fall under this spectrum like the cognac diamond and Le Vian’s high quality chocolate diamond.
Deep beneath the earth’s surface, these beautiful brown gems are formed through billions of years of intense pressure and heat. Trace elements and subtle distortions provide the rich browns and champagne sparkles prevalent within the crystal of champagne jewelry.
Modern champagne diamond jewelry traces its origins to Rio Tinto’s Argyle Diamond Mine within the East Kimberly region of Australia. Geologists found diamond-bearing ore on the Kimberly plateau. Today the Argyle mine still supplies most of the world’s champagne diamonds.
When examining a loose champagne diamond, be sure to allow light to penetrate it in a non-reflective environment to fairly judge light dispersion and refraction and identify inclusions (gemologists suggest utilizing a north light source and black background material). You will examine its color based on hue, tone and saturation. The more intense the color on the Argyle champagne diamond color scale, the more the gem will cost.
Types of Champagne Diamond Jewelry
Champagne diamond jewelry comes in many forms and in many degrees of color. A champagne diamond pendant may feature an array of different degrees of colored gemstones while a champagne diamond ring might feature a single exquisite cut of champagne gemstone. Champagne diamond engagement rings are particularly popular, especially among expressive, independent-minded personalities.
A more affordable option may be to buy champagne diamond jewelry with elegant sterling silver or gold settings for a few smaller champagne diamonds. Pendants, necklaces, bangles and bracelets that mix white and chocolate diamonds have become quite popular for thrilling the entertainment press on the red carpet.
Champagne diamonds may also be utilized as an accent stone for jewelry featuring pearls or an aquamarine. Champagne diamond jewelry works well from black to white and from practical uses like quartz watches and accessories like handbags to fulfilling the wish of a loved one on that special day.
They can require tremendous amounts of money to purchase in designer works of art featuring rose gold and large champagne diamonds or they can be found among more affordable jewelry collections that feature topaz, emerald, onyx, citrine, sapphire, amethyst and garnet gemstones.
So whether you prefer dazzling stud earrings or a romantic champagne diamond heart, the options are becoming more diverse and indulgent with each passing year. Whether for your wedding or your anniversary, you should consider the style, versatility and personality of natural champagne diamond jewelry.