Chocolate Diamonds For a Lot Less!

Before Chocolate Diamonds, jewelers rated diamonds on the 4C’s – cut, color, clarity, & carat.  The cut is how well the diamond is cut and how well it refracts the light so it shines more.  The color is how clear the diamond.  There several colors that would be considered clear, but a better diamond would be considered one that is the most clear once again allowing for a brighter sparkle.  Clarity is a determination of how perfect the stone is.  Any imperfections inside the stone itself are called inclusions.  The fewer inclusions the diamond has, the better (for the most part).  Carat is the weight of the diamond.  Basically each of the factors determines how much a stone will sparkle and draw attention to itself.  

Brown diamonds are created naturally through several processes.  Irradiation (high-energy particles exposed to the stone) can change the color of the stone to any variety of colors, but almost any diamond that has previously been irradiated will turn brown when then put under intense heat (600 degrees C or higher).  The presence of nickel in it can also cause the brown color, and what’s known as lattice defects.  Lattice defects are large voids and other defects in the stone that will give off the illusion of the brown color.  These last two (the presence of nickel and lattice defects) are most common in natural found brown diamonds.

Most of these diamonds come from Australia which houses the famous Argyle Diamond mine which produces one third of the brown colored diamonds in the world.  Shades/hues of brown are actually the most common color of naturally found diamonds on the earth.  For several years they were only used for industrial purposes because they were considered undesirable because the brown color was not attractive.  A percentage of the diamonds, if put in very high pressure will turn a light desirable yellow, or even become colorless.  This process used to be put on several brown stones to make them marketable, until recently.

Colorless and the very rare pink and blue diamonds have always been considered very desirable.  However, recently Hollywood celebrities, looking for a new trend, have been wearing LeVian brand chocolate diamonds on the red carpet, catapulting brown colored “Chocolate Diamonds” into popularity everywhere.

Chocolate diamonds are not usually cut into large carats or the traditional diamond cuts and are often mixed with other precious stones to enhance their beauty. Some mixes are:

Chocolate pearl diamonds – this is a very elegant mix of dark brown and white that reminds many of the chocolate diamond’s namesake.

Chocolate diamonds & turquoise – a very daring, but stunning mix with different textures to enhance the overall effect.

Chocolate diamonds & white diamonds – this is a very common mix, but still very brilliant.

Chocolate diamonds & other colored gems – again very common, but so much variety, any piece of jewelry is practically its own unique piece.

For every gem variety, color is the most important factor, these diamonds being no different. So they are not graded as traditional colorless diamonds are. Their grading is based on the saturation (intensity of color) graded from a 1 – weak, to 9 – vivid. The Gemological Institute of America grades all fancy colored diamonds a Z1 – Z9 (the 1-9 being based on the saturation). And fancy colored diamonds are also rated by their tone (the degree of lightness or darkness of a color) though they are not given a grade by the GIA according to tone. The most desirable tone of a fancy colored diamond is considered to be the medium tone, not too light & not too dark.

There are also different hues of fancy colored diamonds. For instance, the hue of a brown diamond is designated into the categories:

Chocolate – light brown diamonds with no other discernable color

Champaign – sparkling warm golden brown

Cognac – deep reddish/orange

Cinnamon – light pinkish brown

Honey – deep yellow orange

Clove diamonds – deep olive brown

Now you can take this information and make an educated decision when you purchase a brown diamond.  Remember, the purpose of a diamond is to sparkle, so the better the diamond the more sparkle you will get.  Be sure to use a reputable company when getting your chocolate diamonds graded!