FANCY COLORED BROWN DIAMONDS

WHERE ARE FANCY COLORED LOOSE BROWN DIAMONDS FOUND?

Fancy Colored Loose Brown Diamonds are primarily found in Australia in the Argyle diamond mine. They are also discovered in Angola, Borneo, Brazil, and the Congo.

WHAT GIVES FANCY COLORED LOOSE BROWN DIAMONDS THEIR COLOR?

Fancy Colored Loose Brown Diamonds are the result of 'plastic deformation,' essentially dislocation within the crystal structure of the diamond during its formation beneath the Earth's surface. This happens when growing pressures within the Earth cause movement within the crystal structure, altering the diamond's molecular structure. This deformation introduces vibronic color centers with unbonded electrons, creating the brown coloration. Fancy Colored Loose Brown Diamonds can also be influenced by nitrogen, hydrogen, and nickel defects within the diamond's structure.

Generally, Fancy Colored Loose Brown Diamonds contain lower levels of nitrogen than other Natural Fancy Colored Diamonds, causing less yellow coloring. Those with a light color are sometimes referred to as champagne diamonds, while browns containing a significant amount of orange with a dark brown hue are called cognacs. It's relatively rare to find a Fancy Colored Loose Brown Diamond that is pure brown (a fancy brown without a secondary color).

WHAT SHADES AND INTENSITIES DO FANCY COLORED LOOSE BROWN DIAMONDS COME IN?

Fancy Colored Loose Brown Diamonds come in a vast array of shades and intensities, adopting different names to describe their shades and tone. They can be found spanning the full spectrum of color intensity on the GIA grading scale, such as fancy light brown, fancy brown, fancy intense brown, and fancy deep brown (there are no fancy vivid browns).

Fancy Colored Loose Brown Diamonds also come in various color combinations and overtones, including Pink, Pinkish, Yellow, Yellowish, Purple, Purplish, Orange, and Orangey.

WHAT ARE CHAMPAGNE AND COGNAC DIAMONDS?

Even though Fancy Colored Loose Brown Diamonds were considered a natural beauty by some, they were not widely accepted and were predominantly used as industrial diamonds. In fact, they were not even assessed on the GIA diamond color scale.

However, the Australian Argyle mine, where the majority of Fancy Colored Loose Brown Diamonds are found, changed the perception of these diamonds in the mid-1980s. They initiated a clever marketing campaign to transform the consumer’s perception of Fancy Colored Loose Brown Diamonds into an attractive and desirable item of jewelry by renaming these diamonds after aspirational luxury drinks that both men and women can relate to.

The term ‘Champagne Diamonds’ was created to describe diamonds that are light brown, typically with a secondary tone of yellow, and ‘Cognac,’ which are diamonds that are considered darker and deeper browns and often come with a touch of orange. GIA color descriptions for cognac diamonds include fancy orange brown, fancy deep orange brown, fancy dark orange brown, and fancy dark brown.

ARE FANCY COLORED LOOSE BROWN DIAMONDS RARE AND EXPENSIVE?

Generally speaking, Fancy Colored Loose Brown Diamonds are not considered rare, and according to market value demand, the prices of these diamonds are significantly lower than some of the more popular fancy colors, making them a bargain for diamond collectors.

However, as with all Natural Fancy Colored Diamonds, some shades within the brown family are considered rarer than others. Large brown diamonds that receive a high clarity grade will always attract a higher price. It also goes without saying that the stronger the color, the more expensive the diamond. For example, a dark or deep brown diamond will be more expensive than fancy brown, which is more expensive than fancy light brown.

Additionally, the rarer the secondary color is, the more expensive the diamond. Yellow is much more common than pink, and therefore, a yellow-brown diamond (a ‘Champagne Diamond’) will be of lower value than a diamond with similar attributes graded as pink-brown. The same applies to yellow-brown compared to orange-brown in a ‘Cognac Diamond,’ as orange is rarer than yellow, making an orange-brown diamond of higher value than a yellow-brown diamond.

WHICH CELEBRITIES ARE WEARING FANCY COLORED LOOSE BROWN DIAMONDS?

Natural Fancy Colored Diamonds are very much on trend with celebrities, and Fancy Colored Loose Brown Diamonds have recently become very much in vogue. Many A-listers have been seen wearing brown diamonds, particularly Cognac and Champagne diamonds, in various fashionable jewelry items, including necklaces, rings, bracelets, earrings, etc.

Natural Fancy Colored Diamonds have featured in the red carpet ensembles of many famous celebrities, including Jennifer Lopez, who wore a stunning pair of champagne and gray earrings, Hilary Swank, who chose to wear a very elegant briolette in her hair made of brown diamonds, Gillian Anderson, who wore champagne diamond earrings, Cameron Diaz, and Jennifer Hudson, who was seen wearing a beautiful ring with a brown diamond center piece. Cate Blanchett wore a pendant and earrings made of Fancy Colored Loose Brown Diamonds.

The famous English actress Helen Mirren owns a brooch of Fancy Colored Loose Brown Diamonds, and Taylor Swift wore exquisite long dangling ear jewelry made of cognac diamonds for the Grammys.

Style guru Sarah Jessica Parker owned a beautiful one-of-a-kind brown diamond brooch designed for her by famed jewelry designer Cindy Chao.

Other celebrities seen wearing Fancy Colored Loose Brown Diamonds include Kathleen Bird York, Ashanti, Halle Berry, Jessica Simpson, Emily Blunt, Carrie Underwood, and Isla Fischer.

ARE THERE ANY FAMOUS FANCY COLORED LOOSE BROWN DIAMONDS?

One of the most famous Fancy Colored Loose Brown Diamonds is the ‘Golden Pelican,’ an absolutely beautiful 69.93-carat Champagne diamond. It is a rectangular emerald-cut originally mined in South Africa.

Another famous Champagne-colored diamond is The Golden Jubilee Diamond, the largest cut diamond in the world, weighing a staggering 545.67 carats. Found in 1985 in the Premier mine in South Africa, it was given as a gift to mark the 50th anniversary of the coronation of King Bhumibol Adulyadej in 1997. Its estimated value is between $5 and $12 million.

Other famous Fancy Colored Loose Brown Diamonds include The Earth Star Diamond, The Star of the South, The Incomparable Diamond, The Excelsior Diamond, The Lesotho Brown, and The Star of Sierra Leone.

DO FANCY COLORED LOOSE BROWN DIAMONDS LOOK GOOD AS JEWELRY?

Fancy Colored Loose Brown Diamonds are very much in fashion and undoubtedly make a stunning centerpiece within pieces of jewelry for both women and men. The stunning earthy colors of these diamonds add a very contemporary twist to jewelry. Fancy Colored Loose Brown Diamonds can be found in many shapes, such as Princess, Emerald, Asscher, Oval, Marquise, Pear, Radiant, Heart, and Cushion, and therefore look beautiful within most jewelry designs.

WHERE CAN I BUY FANCY COLORED LOOSE BROWN DIAMOND JEWELRY?

Like any diamond jewelry, when selecting a piece of Fancy Colored Loose Brown Diamond jewelry to add to your collection, you would be well-advised to consult a well-established and highly respected specialist jeweler, such as Rêve Diamonds of the Upper East Side, New York. We offer a wide selection of the most beautiful pieces of Fancy Colored Loose Brown Diamond jewelry.