This winter Rio Tinto is planning to roll out "Silvermist," the diamond miner’s new silvery-gray colored diamonds that the company believes will enable the creation of more affordable diamond jewelry.



At a press event in New York City, Rio Tinto displayed a pair of earrings embedded with the new silver diamonds as well as traditional colorless diamonds. The combination creates a unique vintage look.



U.S. Vice President of Rio Tinto Diamonds, Rebecca Foerster, stated that some leading regional independent diamond jewelry chains and buying groups in the US are already carrying the Silvermist diamonds. Currently only one company - Interjewel U.S.A – is manufacturing the silver diamond jewelry pieces.



The Silvermist diamonds will be slightly more expensive than champagne diamonds because of the level of expertise needed to cut and polish these gemstones.



Rio Tinto offered a peek at its new silver diamonds at the Champagne Diamond Editor Day. The event showcased jewelry designs featuring champagne diamonds from Rio Tinto's Argyle Mine in Australia.



Foerster stated that the champagne diamonds will generally cost about 20 to 40% less than a comparable colorless diamond.