I was in a Jared’s jewelry store the other day to get my anniversary band cleaned and inspected. (Yes, he went to Jared! Actually, I went to Jared and picked it out. He paid…) While I was waiting, I checked out their phenomenal display of jewelry (particularly wedding bands and engagement rings) featuring chocolate diamonds. I had seen chocolate diamonds before, but the designs by Le Vian, were absolutely stunning. Here are a couple of photos (and I promise, the photos don’t do these rings justice!)
As I was drooling over the counter, it occurred to me that chocolate diamonds are a relatively new entry into the diamond world. I’d heard of white diamonds, blue diamonds and yellow diamonds, but not chocolate. I was curious as to how these chocolate diamonds had stayed hidden all these years, so I asked a salesperson, who was more than happy to tell me.
The Scoop on Chocolate Diamonds
Chocolate diamonds have been around forever, but it wasn’t until recently that chocolate diamonds were desirable by consumers, who were more interested in what they call fancy diamonds—pink, yellow, blue, green, purple, black, red and orange. A deep-red diamond is the rarest and most expensive.
A few years ago, the LeVian family (in the diamond and jewelry-design biz for 500 years!) gave their master designers the challenge of creating spectacular rings, pendants and earrings using chocolate diamonds, which would create a daringly different kind of dazzle at a lower price.
Most of the chocolate diamonds are mined in Australia, though a few have been found in Kentucky. Like other diamonds, their color, clarity, carat weight and cut are taken into consideration in pricing.
Ring-a-Ding-Ding!
I’m one of those women who will almost always take the road not taken. I love my wedding band (a fusion of white gold, rose gold and diamonds), but if I had wandered over to the chocolate diamond counter the day I chose the ring, I think I might have picked a band with those little brown beauties. Had they been around when I chose my engagement ring (I leave nothing to chance!) I probably would have gone for chocolate diamonds then, too. Here are a couple more examples:
And For My Wedding…
I would have made chocolate one of the colors in my wedding palette, and thanked my guests with edible wedding favors made of creamy, dreamy chocolate, like the “Chocolate Bliss” Decadent Chocolate Apples in the photo below! If you’re a chocolate fanatic (and most women are!), check out the engagement rings and wedding bands featuring the flavor that fixes everything!
