Cognac Diamonds – Everything You Need To Know
It’s no surprise that some of the world’s most desirable luxury goods are diamond jewellery. However, the diamond industry is also one of the most complex, with thousands of different types of diamonds used to make the jewellery that we love. This article will tell you about Cognac diamonds and their paler coloured cousins, Champagne diamonds.
If you’re thinking of investing in a new piece of jewellery that uses Cognac or Champagne diamonds, here are some things to consider before buying this type of diamond jewellery.
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What Are Cognac Diamonds?
Cognac and champagne diamonds are genuine, natural diamonds. The main difference to most diamonds used in jewellery is their colour. In the case of Cognac diamonds, it is darkish, orangey-brown. In Champagne diamonds, it is a lighter, yellowish shade, similar to that of white wine.
Most mined diamonds have some colour, usually a yellowish or brownish tint. There are many more of these coloured diamonds than the white diamonds we see in jewellery. So their price is much lower than colourless diamonds.
Pure white is generally considered to be the most desirable colour of a diamond. This is partly why diamond jewellery made with Cognac and Champagne diamonds tends to be less costly than white diamond jewellery.
While Cognac and Champagne diamonds are real natural diamonds, they often have flaws and inclusions that make them of lower quality than white diamonds.
What Makes Cognac Diamonds Brown In Colour?
The brown or yellow colouration in these diamonds is due to impurities contained within the structure of the diamond. A colourless diamond will have no impurities whatsoever and is made of pure carbon.
Yellow and brown diamonds have been contaminated with nitrogen during the creation process of the diamonds that have taken place over millions of years, deep underground. The more nitrogen is present, the darker the colour of the diamond.
Even white diamonds often have some slight yellow tint, but this is usually not visible except under expert analysis.
Other colours of diamond also occur naturally. For example, traces of boron will give diamonds a blue colour.
Diamonds are graded using the 4Cs, colour, clarity, cut and carat weight. See this article to learn more about the 4Cs. Diamond colour is graded from D to Z, with D being completely clear and E, F and G being generally considered colourless in normal wear conditions in jewellery. Most jewellery manufacturers will not use diamonds of a lower colour grade than L
A Cognac or Champagne diamond is so heavily coloured that it cannot be graded on this scale.
What About The Price Of Cognac Diamonds?
Because Cognac and Champagne diamonds are so much more commonly found than white diamonds, their price is much lower than white diamonds. Indeed, for many years, these brown coloured diamonds were used only in industrial situations. Brown diamonds we used for or grinding and polishing or other situations where an inexpensive, very hard, material was needed. Indeed, they still are used in that way today!
The availability of these inexpensive diamonds in jewellery resulted from a stroke of marketing genius by somebody at the Argyle diamond mine in Australia in the 1980s. This mine produced a very low proportion of white diamonds compared to the low-value brown gemstones. Hence, they started a marketing campaign to persuade buyers that these brown diamonds were actually things of beauty and thus value in their own right.
It is impossible to give an exact price difference ratio between these brownish diamonds and the more valuable white diamonds. However, as a very rough guide, a loose 1 carat brown diamond might cost around 30% of the price of a G/SI graded diamond of the type we at All Diamond use in much of our diamond jewellery. Given that brown diamonds are much more common in nature than white diamonds that makes prices for these coloured diamonds appear to be lousy value relative to white diamonds.
One thing that you can be sure of as a consumer is this: There is more profit in the brown diamonds for jewellery manufacturers and retailers. That is because the starting value of these gemstones is so low that it is possible to add a large profit margin without consumers thinking they are being ripped off. As consumers, we tend to compare the price of brown diamonds to that of white diamonds without knowing that the brown ones are so much less valuable.
Whatever you do, do not be persuaded to pay extra for a Cognac or Champagne diamond!
Champagne Diamonds Vs Cognac Diamonds
There is no difference between a Champagne or Cognac diamond except the colour. They are just gradations in shade within the range of brown diamond colours. That means there is no reason to choose one over the other apart from your preference regarding the colour itself.
Should You Buy Cognac Or Champagne Diamond Jewellery?
Buying diamond jewellery is a matter of personal taste. If you like the colour of these diamonds, then we say go right ahead. We do not currently offer this option in our diamond jewellery for several reasons:
1) Most diamond jewellery buyers expect their diamonds to, well, look like diamonds!
2) Many buyers already know that yellow or brown diamonds are generally considered lower quality.
3) Cognac and Champagne diamonds are not, in the opinion of many people, good value given that they sell for a relatively high price in relation to their lack of rarity.
4) How much do you really like brown?
Whatever you do, we recommend that you do not buy jewellery with these coloured diamonds simply because you can get a larger diamond for the same money as a white diamond. We live with our diamond jewellery for a lifetime, and diamond jewellery can become a family heirloom, passed through generations. Do you want to go through your life with diamond jewellery that was bought based on the compromise of having purchased a brown diamond simply to get a larger diamond for your money?
Do not buy Cognac or Champagne diamonds on the basis that they are rare. All diamonds suitable for jewellery are rare, but probably 10,000 brown diamonds are mined for each white diamond!
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Coloured Jewellery At All Diamond.
Along with our gorgeous diamond only jewellery, we offer jewellery with genuine sapphires, emeralds, rubies, aquamarine and tanzanites. These high-quality gemstones give colour and contrast along with our customary high quality of design and materials.
Please check out our collections of fine diamond jewellery, all designed and handcrafted in the United Kingdom and sold with our lifetime workmanship guarantees.
