Champagne Diamonds

[celestina]

I'm currently eyeing a cluster champagne diamond ring. It's a 1 CTW champagne diamond cluster on 18k yellow gold.

Planning to turn it into a half eternity ring so it can be stackable. What do you think?



Also, I heard that champagne diamonds are becoming rare because th only mine that produces it is finding fewer and fewer each year. Is this true?

 

[RockHugger]

The diamonds look nice! Although brown diamonds are not in short supply. I have never heard that before!!

 

[chrono]

The diamonds look pretty in that picture but I agree with RockHugger that I’ve never heard of champagnes getting mined less every year. Is that what the vendor is claiming? Does he/she have any proof to back that claim?

 

[celestina]

Hi! Thanks for your input! Pardon the blurry photo. It was taken by a novice using a low MP digicam.

I read it somewhere online from a couple of sites and also from one thread here. Maybe it's just one of those marketing schemes to make people buy.

I love looking at these champagne diamonds. They have a certain allure different from colorless diamonds. I like them faintly champagne, only a hint. I think they look very elegant. And how they sparkle!

 

[Rockit]

It may be that chatter about champagnes becoming more rare is in direct reference to Rio Tinto's Argyle diamond mine in Australia, where many light brown, or "champagne," diamonds are sourced. The Argyle, most famous for its pink and brown diamonds, reports to have just 10 years of supply left. However, the world supply of brown diamonds, as far as I know, is not disappearing any time soon. Browns come from other sources around the world, including India. On the other hand, although PINKS (and purples) may be found from other places, the Argyle pinks represent such a large portion of the market that you may want to snag an already pricey pink now, while you can...

If you are thinking about purchasing diamonds labeled "champagne," do try to get a more accurate description of the color. "Champagne" and "cognac" are merely marketing terms developed by Rio Tinto to describe various colors of brown diamonds (of which they have a huge inventory, especially compared to other, rare, Argyle diamond colors). A "champagne" diamond could be light yellowish brown, light pinkish brown, very light brown, light brownish yellow, and etc. See if you can get a more specific idea of actual color. Both GIA and Rio Tinto have accepted grading systems for browns, GIA's is more specific to actual hue, tone and saturation where as Rio Tinto's grades are less complicated and more concerned with just tone (ie, light, medium, dark).

Finally, if you are purchasing a ring with several "champagne" diamonds, do be careful that the the stones match one another for color, especially if you may be planning a reset. Unless a setter takes care, the parameters to "match" five "C1-C2 light champagne" diamonds (Rio Tinto grading) are less stringent than matching five "light pinkish brown"diamonds of similar size and shape. Looking at your photo, it is difficult to be sure how well these diamonds are matched...

 

[T L]

I'm currently eyeing a cluster champagne diamond ring. It's a 1 CTW champagne diamond cluster on 18k yellow gold.

Planning to turn it into a half eternity ring so it can be stackable. What do you think?



Also, I heard that champagne diamonds are becoming rare because th only mine that produces it is finding fewer and fewer each year. Is this true?

Pretty ring. I have heard that champagne diamonds are rarer than colorless or off-color diamonds, however, I have not heard about any shortage.

 

[marcy]

I have heard that too about the champagne diamonds but have no idea if it is true or not. I think your diamonds would look great in an eternity ring.

 

[Rockit]

TL, what makes a diamond "champagne" vs. "off-color for you?" Also, when you refer to "colorless" do you mean D-E color, or D-G/H? I'm just curious to understand how you interpret these terms.

 

[T L]

TL, what makes a diamond "champagne" vs. "off-color for you?" Also, when you refer to "colorless" do you mean D-E color, or D-G/H? I'm just curious to understand how you interpret these terms.

I'm sorry, I used bad terminology. I'm referending G throuh O in color when I say off white. When I say colorless, I'm referencing D-F.

 

[Rockit]

OK, we're pretty much on the same page then. Thanks, TL. So, thinking kind of in GIA-terms, where does champagne begin and end for you? With the faints (Q-R) to fancy light?

 

[T L]

They have their own color codes according to this chart.

http://www.champagnediamondcenter.com/color_palette.asp

I think the GIA just grades them as fancy brown, in various shades, fancy light, fancy dark.

 

[LD]

My only reservation about the ring you've posted is that there appears to be a significant difference in the amount of champagne you can see in the diamonds. Having the diamonds set into an eternity band might emphasize this and you'd have to be careful with the placement so that the ring looked "equal" if that makes sense?

I don't think that champagne diamonds in this size are rare or difficult to find. In larger sizes they are most definitely a nightmare to source!

 

[celestina]

Hi! Thank you for everyone's inputs.

I just checked the diamonds and, best I can observe, they all seem to have the same depth of color except for one which seems to have a very subtle hint of yellow. I'm no expert so I'll have a jeweller take a look at it for me on Monday when I have it reset.

I'll try to take a clear photo of the diamonds without any flash so you can see how brown they are. It can be quite difficult to get good photos because the diamonds reflect a lot of light and to see the color one has to look very closely into each stone. I checked a certain chart, and the stones appear to be Chocolate Grade 2 or Cinnamon Grade 3.

 

[AprilBaby]

Very pretty sparkly ring! I like the setting it is in!