Monday

About Colored Diamonds: Champagne, Cognac, and Chocolate

Cognac Diamond Fashion Ring

Champagne Diamond Drop Pendant

Diamonds are diamonds, right? However, historically something about brown colored diamonds just wasn’t appealing to jewelry lovers.  Perhaps it was the fact that brown  is one of the most common shades of natural diamonds or that the hue is a result of either an impurity or structural defect in the gemstone.  The simple facts that the gemstone was more common, imperfect and well, brown,  may explain its failure to grab the attention of the early jewelry buying public.

Times change, however.  Some smart marketing people came up with the idea to label the stones as champagne, cognac and even chocolate to enhance the image of the brown gemstone.  The new names would correspond with the deepness of the brown.  Light brown became champagne, while cognac and chocolate represented deeper hues.  Meanwhile, the fashion industry began popularizing autumn hues which included brown tones.  Suddenly, brown was “in” and champagne, cognac and chocolate diamonds became hot commodities.  The upside to this fashion trend, is also what used to be the negative about brown colored diamonds.  Because of the wider availability of natural brown diamonds, they cost much less than white diamonds and are thus, much more affordable.  I love brown diamond jewelry because it is both distinctive and the neutral shade goes with just about any wardrobe selection…. and afterall, diamonds are diamonds, right?