Cinnamon, caramel, chocolate, or cognac; which flavor are you?  No, this isn’t about candy or candles.  Candy melts and candles burn.  This is about something that has lasted as long as the earth—diamonds.

Everyone knows that diamonds are the brightest gems.  And among diamonds, it used to be that nothing could compare to the standard bearer, the white or colorless variety.  However, the hottest diamond right now isn’t white at all, it’s brown.  Diamonds of color are known as fancy colored diamonds and brown diamonds come in lots of shades.  The Natural Color Diamond Association has a range of colors that begin with light-colored, champagne diamonds, and end with the dark cognac colored gems.  Chocolate, cinnamon, and caramel fall within this range.

The largest chocolate diamond mine is in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.  These Argyle Diamonds used to be mined mostly for industrial use.  But beauty always rises to the top.  Chocolate diamonds are also found in Africa and Russia.  Colored diamonds are usually very expensive because of how rare they are.  And the more colorful, the more costly.  But brown diamonds are the exception.  Because of their quantity, they are very affordable.

When grading chocolate diamonds, experts use the same standard as white diamonds—the four C’s: color, clarity, carat, and cut.  The color category, of course, has a different grading scale according to depth of color.  All these factors are used to determine the relative worth or market value of a stone.  But experts cannot grade how well a diamond complements a wardrobe or a person’s skin tone.  So, in reality, it is each individual’s opinion as to the value of a chocolate diamond.  These brown stones make an extraordinary match with white diamonds as well, leaving lots of room for creativity in jewelry design and arrangement.

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