Bario Neal Creates New Bands and Rings With Champagne Diamonds

We've got something to toast this Summer: our new champagne diamond collection. Summer's the perfect time for this fancy color stone to shine. And while we're always happy to work with you on designing a custom ring, this addition means our clients get more gemstone choices in more of our ring and band designs, from the Myrtle Champagne Diamond Ring to the Eternity Champagne Diamond Band.

The gemstone is a spectacular alternative to a colorless (aka white) diamond, is at home set in all types of metals, and looks lovely next to other colored stones too.

When it comes to wear, champagne diamonds are just as durable and hard as colorless diamonds. Just like other fancy color diamonds, they are diamonds, 99.95% carbon. Colorless diamonds are graded for their lack of color, with the most colorless being the most expensive. But as the grade gets lower, noticeable color tones show, typically in yellow, gray or, you guessed it, "champagne."

"Champagne diamond is referring to a pale brown essentially," says Genna Fischer, Bario Neal gemstone sourcing coordinator. "We typically use C2 to C4 gemological grading for champagne diamonds. The scale goes C1 to C8, with C7 and C8 being more cognac." Though you can create color in diamonds with various treatments, Bario Neal's champagne diamonds come by their color naturally thanks to trace elements during formation.

"Champagne" and "cognac" are marketing speak of course. "My pale brown diamond" doesn't exactly dance off the tongue. If you've ever bought paint for your home, you'll recognize that kind of (usually ridiculous) color branding. Who hasn't painted their home "Chantilly Lace," "Shoji," or "Ultra Pure" only to realize that their walls are white. Just white. The champagne diamond marketing terms were coined in the 1980s by an Australian mine that's also the source of Bario Neal's traceable, ethical champagne diamonds.

Frankly, we don't need the sales pitch. Whatever you call the color, we love champagne diamonds because they have the sparkle of a colorless diamond while being more of an easy neutral. So do many of our clients who want a gemstone with an effortless subtlety. "A really bright, sparkly colorless diamond, you can see that across the room," Fischer says. "A champagne diamond has that sparkle and that fire without being blinding."

Here are 7 great reasons to choose champagne diamonds

• Champagne diamonds, at larger sizes, are more affordable than colorless diamonds.
• Champagne diamonds at Bario Neal are ethically sourced and traceable. We have a longstanding relationship with an Australian mine. Larger champagne diamonds come with a certification verifying they were mined and cut responsibly in Australia. Clients who have ties to the country get an even more personal story with the gemstone too. (P.S. If you want a ring or band with a recycled gemstone, champagne diamonds can be tougher to find because they haven't been as popular in the past and there's just not as many antique jewelry pieces to pull stones from as there are with colorless diamonds. But it's not impossible, just ask!)
• Champagne diamonds don't carry the "perfection assumptions" that add pressure to shopping for colorless diamonds. "There's plenty of room for all types of champagne diamonds. The "lighter" isn't necessarily the "more valuable," Fischer says.
• Champagne diamonds pair well with any metal color. In a yellow gold, they have an antique feel. In a rose gold, they take on more of a pink undertone. In platinum, they take on cooler notes and look more modern.
• Champagne diamonds easily stand alone as a stunning center stone in a ring. They can be any shape or size you want.
• Melee champagne diamonds, smaller accent stones, work beautifully in rings and bands (and, in fact, are already shining in many Bario Neal designs).

We're happy to see the sometimes underappreciated champagne diamond finally getting more attention. If you make Fischer pick a favorite, she says she'd go with the Open Lash Mini Champagne Diamond Ring. "It's both a ring and a band. It can be worn on its own very nicely, but it fits around and with many solitaire or multi-stone engagement rings very well."

We'll toast to that, and you should feel free to pop a cork too at our Philadelphia flagship or New York showroom while you shop our new Champagne diamond rings and bands.