Champagne Diamonds

Champagne Coloured Diamonds

Champagne must be one of the most abused words when it comes to describing the colour of diamonds. We have seen many yellow or brown tinged stones described as champagne diamonds. On this site we will be featuring a number of diamonds of interesting fancy colours. We will try to give a more accurate name for each according to its colour, for example "sherry".

Coming Soon!
We have recently purchased a small number of fancy coloured diamonds, as we get time, we will be showing them in the photographs on this page and the other pages of this website. Natural fancy coloured diamonds are very rare and expensive. Some of our "champagne" diamonds will be natural, others will be enhanced or treated. If this fact puts you off owning one, then please stop to consider that every diamond has been enhanced by facetting, and most coloured gemstones are heat treated to enhance their colour. We will add a page devoted to gemstone treatments when we have more time.

Four Possibilities

There are three, possibly four, possibilities for "champagne" diamonds.

• Natural Fancy Coloured
  If a "champagne" diamond has a sufficiently intense or distinct colour to warrant being termed a "fancy" colour, and is natural, then it will command a premium price, many times more than a similar whiteish diamond.
• A natural but "off" coloured diamond, typically yellow or brown, will be less expensive than a similar white diamond, and may represent an attractive purchase considering its beauty and desirability.
• Fancy coloured, enhanced or treated "champagne" diamonds should be priced somewhere between the above two types.
• It is possible, but unlikely that any enhanced "off" coloured diamonds would be available. It they occur, then they should be priced at less than any of the above types.

Is It Natural?

Natural fancy coloured diamonds are so rare that most jewellers have never seen one, and will never own one. In recent years, methods of producing intensely coloured diamonds have been developed. We believe that the process probably recreates the conditions which existed millions of years ago to produce natural fancy coloured stones. The treatment can only work with a small minority of diamonds, and involves irradiating them causing the colour change, usually followed by heat treatment to stabilise the colour.

How Rare?

In our first twenty years of designing diamond rings, we had only owned 5 coloured diamonds, four of which were certificated as natural. Now that treated stones are available, we intend to make full use of their inherent beauty in our rings. Even enhanced (treated) champagne diamonds are not easy to find, so our stock selection will never be very extensive. Natural fancy champagne diamonds remain so rare, that we try hard to find any! Any comments we make about champagne diamonds could therfore relate to natural or treated ones unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

How Expensive?

Quality for quality, natural fancy champagne diamonds are more expensive than ordinary near-colourless ones. The processing adds to the costs, so it is generally only worth treating diamonds of high clarity. The diamonds selected for treatment usually start off a one of the less desirable colours such as brown or yellow. There is no certainty about the final colour that any particular stone will be after treatment.

What About Topaz?

Why bother to get so excited about champagne diamonds, when we could use topaz instead? The very best topaz are quite expensive, and they still do not have the sparkle that champagne diamonds possess. In addition even though topaz are very hard and durable, diamonds are many times harder and even more durable.

More Information
For more information about champagne diamonds, please follow the links at the top left of this page. We also have pages about cut, shape, & clarity of champagne diamonds, and colour in general.

Rings

We design and create diamond rings, and we have found that many other people share our love of champagne diamonds and other fancy colours. So far we have not made any of rings using champagne diamonds, but we are busy right now with a few ideas.

Pendants & Ear-Rings