2001

Basel Glitters With Brown Diamonds

May 2001

As jewelers from around the world gathered in Basel Switzerland for the largest global jewelry fair in March, diamonds in various shades of brown were one of the strongest trends spotted.

Brown diamonds--from champagne and cognac to chocolate in color--were shown by designers and manufacturers from throughout Europe. The trend, which is good news for Argyle, is driven primarily by brown stones in pave or small sizes. These diamonds were the favorite of cutting-edge Italian designers like Pasquale Bruni, Damiani and Alfieri and St. John. According to Pasquale Bruni, the international trend toward brown diamonds is being driven by the Asian market, especially Japan, where consumers are asking for fashionable jewelry with the brown stones. Their newest collection, featuring cognac diamond pave, was a first for the Pasquale Bruni, which is well known for its large and vibrant colored stone jewelry.

Many designers were combining the brown diamond pave with other gemstones. Picchiotti, for example, created a flower brooch featuring brown diamond pave as a backdrop to a bright green tsavorite.

While the market for brown diamonds is undeniably heating up in jewelry design, the trend toward black diamonds is diminishing. Some designers, like Mikimoto, continue create lines with black diamonds, combining the brooding stones with gray South Sea pearls. Overall, however, black and white diamond designs were increasingly rare this year, as were other fancy color stones. As always, however, the designs found at Basel are several years ahead of consumer buying trends and both black and colored diamonds are enjoying popularity in fashion circles.

The "white hot" look of diamond pave in white gold, meanwhile, looks seemed to be slowing in Basel, as designers instead favored sapphire or other colored stone pave with diamond accents.