The short answer is: they do now — and they're rarer than you'd think.
Until now, if you wanted a champagne diamond, you had to buy a mined diamond. Natural champagne and cognac stones, famous for their warm honey and golden brown hues, have long been a favorite for people who find colorless diamonds a little cold. There's something about a stone with color — with warmth — that feels richer, more unique, and more sun-drenched.
But lab-grown champagne diamonds? That was never supposed to happen. Lab diamonds are grown to be white. Perfectly, repeatably, boringly white. The whole system is engineered for uniformity.
Which is exactly what makes a champagne lab diamond such an anomaly — and until recently, almost impossible to access.
What Is a Champagne Lab Diamond?
A champagne lab diamond is a lab-grown diamond with natural champagne color instead of the bright white coloring of most lab diamonds.
Just like natural champagne diamonds, they range from soft golden honey tones through rich cognac browns. The only difference is they were grown in a lab versus mined from the Earth.
New to champagne diamonds altogether? Our complete guide to champagne diamonds covers everything from color and rarity to pricing, value, and why we've become so obsessed with them.
How do you make champagne lab diamonds
Lab grown champagne diamonds are made using a process called CVD (Chemical Vapor Depositon). CVD is a mass-scale system engineered for one thing — colorless perfection. But occasionally, something extraordinary happens in the growing process and the rough emerges with warmth. A true honey tone. A golden depth. The kind of color that stops you mid-scroll.
A genuinely vibrant, honey-toned lab diamond on the C3-C5 champagne color scale is like finding a needle in a haystack — which is exactly what makes it special.
Why Are Champagne Lab Diamonds So Rare?
Lab diamonds aren't supposed to come out champagne.
Modern CVD diamond production has spent years getting incredibly good at growing bright white diamonds because that's what the market has traditionally wanted. Every stage of the process is optimized around consistency, so when a piece of rough develops genuine champagne color instead, it's the exception rather than the rule.
The surprising part is that champagne lab diamonds probably aren't as new as they seem. For years, the industry was focused on producing the whitest diamonds possible, so warm honey-colored rough simply wasn't the goal. Fast forward a few years, though, and more and more people are falling in love with gemstones that have a little more personality—Montana sapphires, salt and pepper diamonds, antique cuts, champagne diamonds. Suddenly, those warm golden diamonds that might once have been overlooked have become exactly what people are searching for.
Even then, not every champagne-colored rough diamond becomes a finished gemstone. It still has to be large enough, clean enough, and well-shaped enough to cut into something worth wearing. By the time all of those pieces line up, you've gone from thousands of pieces of rough to a tiny handful of diamonds that actually make it into a ring.
That's what makes them so exciting. They're not being mass-produced to fill inventory. They're being discovered.
meet wholesale vendor the golden facet - the new lab champagne dIamond purveyor
Finding champagne-colored rough is one thing. Finding someone who's made it their mission to hunt for it is another.
The Golden Facet is the first brand we've seen who specializes in lab-grown champagne diamonds. Their stones start as diamond seeds in a CVD growing facility. After several weeks of growth, the rough is selected specifically for its unique color. Once secured, expert lapidarians digitally map the rough and cut and polish each stone with precision. Every stone is guaranteed untreated.
The Golden Facet operates wholesale only - working directly with industry professionals and jewelers. If you're not in the trade but you've fallen in love with a stone, it's okay because Gem Breakfast has an all access pass to their buffet.
What Colors Do Champagne Lab Diamonds Come In?
Champagne lab diamonds are generally described using the Argyle Mine's C1 through C8 champagne diamond grading system, the same scale long used for natural champagne diamonds. C1 is the lightest hint of champagne, while C8 reaches a rich, deep cognac brown.
While the C1-C8 scale is widely recognized throughout the industry, you won't see those grades listed on a GIA or IGI report. Instead, lighter champagne diamonds are typically graded within the traditional D-to-Z color scale (usually K-Z), while darker stones are classified as Fancy Brown diamonds.
For clarity, all of The Golden Facet's stones are eye-clean (SI1 and above), with the vast majority grading VS or higher.
Why We Love Champagne Lab Diamonds
White diamonds aren't going anywhere, and we're certainly not mad about that. But somewhere along the way, "diamond" became synonymous with colorless, and we've never really bought into that.
We love the unique, the unexpected, the one-of-a-kinds. We've never believed perfection was the most interesting thing a gemstone could be.
Champagne diamonds became one of our signatures for exactly that reason, and lab-grown champagne diamonds are just another exciting new chapter. They have the same sunlit glow, the same personality, and the same luminous warmth of natural champagne diamonds, just with a lower price tag.
Lab grown champagne Diamonds vs. Natural Champagne Diamonds
If we set the two side by side, you wouldn't be able to tell one from the other.
Both can have the same rich honey, golden, and cognac hues, both are real diamonds, and both have the same sparkle and durability.
The biggest difference is simply where they came from. Natural champagne diamonds formed beneath the earth over billions of years, while champagne lab diamonds are grown in a laboratory over several weeks before being selected for their rare color.
Which one is right for you usually comes down to budget, personal preference, and the size of diamond you're after. If you'd love a larger champagne diamond without the natural price tag, consider lab-grown. If you love the magic and history of an earth-made stone, opt for natural.
Read our guide Lab Grown Diamond vs Natural Diamonds for the full breakdown.
So, do champagne lab diamonds exist?
Yes — but they are genuinely hard to come by, not mass-produced, and require someone willing to scour the supply chain for the right rough. We have access to all their exclusive drops and can procure these stones directly for our clients at Gem Breakfast. If a warm, honey-toned lab diamond is on your radar, let's talk. Email chef@gembreakfast.com for a first peak at these incredible stones.
Ready to find your own?
→ Shop loose lab-grown champagne diamonds from The Golden Facet
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Your Champagne Lab Diamond Questions, Answered
Are champagne lab diamonds real diamonds?
Yes. They're chemically, physically, and optically identical to mined diamonds. The only difference is how they were formed.
Do champagne lab diamonds sparkle like white lab diamonds?
Absolutely. Sparkle has much more to do with how a diamond is cut than its color. A well-cut champagne lab diamond can be every bit as brilliant as a well-cut white lab diamond.
The difference is the look of that sparkle. White diamonds have that crisp, icy sparkle, while champagne diamonds glow with warm honey, golden, and cognac tones. Neither is better—they're just different flavors.
Are champagne lab diamonds treated?
Not the ones we source. Every champagne lab diamond from The Golden Facet is guaranteed untreated, with its color developing naturally during the growth process.
Why are champagne lab diamonds so hard to find?
Because lab diamonds are generally grown to be colorless. Champagne-colored rough appears only occasionally, and only a small percentage has the clarity and proportions needed to become an exceptional finished diamond.
Are champagne lab diamonds less expensive than natural champagne diamonds?
Generally, yes. While every stone is unique, lab-grown champagne diamonds are much less expensive than comparable natural champagne diamonds.
Can I design a custom engagement ring with a champagne lab diamond?
Absolutely. We can source champagne lab diamonds directly through The Golden Facet and design a completely custom engagement ring around the stone you choose.