Champagne DArgent Rabbits
Champagne DArgent. This beautifully silvered rabbit breed provides the foundation genetics for related breeds, such as the Argente Bleu, Argente Brun, Argente Crème, and Argente St. Hubert.
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 While not the oldest breed ever, the Champagne d’Argent is recognizable in history clear back to 1631. Undoubtedly the breed predates this reference by untold years. In 1631, Gervaise Marrkham advised rabbit breeders to use the largest "conies," or rabbits, they could find for breeding stock, and then offered - in the King’s English - a description of the fur color and qualities in a silvered rabbit: For the richnesse of the skin, that is accounted the richest which hath the equallest mixture of blacke and white haire together, yet the blacke rather shadowing the white; the furre should be thicke, deepe, smooth, and shining... Yep, perfect description of the Champagne d'Argent.   France’s Encyclopaedia of Science, dated 1765, describes a silvered rabbit such as the Champagne d’Argent and the Argente Brun, but under the name of a Riche Rabbit, possibly because, again in the ancient words of Marrkham, "When another skin is worth two or three pence, they are worth two shillings."
Champagnes first arrived in the USA in 1912 under the name of Champagne or French Silver. The Champagne d’Argent Rabbit Federation formed in 1932. In the UK, the breed is known as Argente Champagne.
The Silvering Process
 Champagne d’Argent rabbits are born pitch black. It is not until their first junior coat, around 7-8 weeks old, that the silvering effect begins to show itself.As the new coat begins to come in, the "secondary" guard hairs are white-tipped. The "primary" guard hairs and the undercoat, however, are still fully pigmented. The effect this gives is that of "old silver." The darkness of the still-pigmented guard hairs and the undercoat, where they show through, "tarnishes" the overall silveriness of the rabbit. This is very striking and attractive, and is the reason why over the ages, the pelt of the rabbit we know today as the Champagne d'Argent commanded huge premiums over the value of a standard rabbit pelt. With each successive molt, more of the pigment is lost, extending even to the primary guard hairs and the undercoat, although we’ve never seen a Champagne d'Argent that looks completely white. The degree of silvering is heritable. The Silver rabbit, and the Silver Fox rabbit are both silvered breeds, examples of minor silvering. Belgian Silvers
The French like their Argente Champagnes fifty-fifty, or moderately silvered, while breeders in Belgium prefer heavily silvered champagne dargent rabbits. In fact, they could not compete fairly in European shows due to the fact that their Argente Champagnes didn't correctly match the official French standard. But no problem. They renamed their rabbits Belgian Silvers, and wrote a new standard for the "new" breed. Go to this Champagne d'Argent Facebook page for some additional great pictures of Champagne d'Argents.
Champagne d'Argents and Argentes
in the USA vs UK
 The Argente Champagne of the UK weighs approximately 3.62 kg (8 pounds). Its coat is at least an inch long, glossy and dense. The density causes the coat to not lay flat, meaning you can see through the silvering to the shadowy dark underfur. In the words of the BRC Standard of Excellence, the coat color gives the effect of "old silver." The Champagne d’Argent in the USA is a substantially larger animal, tipping the scales at up to 12 pounds. It exemplifies a commercial, meat rabbit type, being full in the shoulders and deep in the hindquarters. 
(Pictured are two Argente Bruns with different rates of silvering.)
Other Argente Breeds:
Argente Bleu, Argente Brun, Argente Noir, Argente St. Hubert
The Argente Bleu, Argente Brun, Argente Noir and Argente St. Hubert have nearly identical Standards of Excellence in the UK. Each of these three breeds should weigh about 2.72 kg (6 pounds). Coat length is listed at being between 1.9 - 2.54 cm (3/4 - 1 inch). They differ mainly in color:
- The Argente Bleu has a well-silvered "lavender blue" under-color
- The Argente Brun has a "deep brown" under-color (see picture above)
- The Argente Noir, being of a black undercolor, seems to differ from the Champagne d’Argent in size only.
- The Argente St. Hubert is a black agouti-based rabbit. Parting the hairs on the silvered pelt reveals grey near the skin, a rich orange or rufous ring and black tips on those hair shafts that have not lost their pigment.
Argente Crème
The Argente Crème is the UK’s small version of the Crème d’Argent in the USA. The rabbits are very similar as to silvering and color, however the main difference between the continents is size. Argente Crèmes should weigh a petite 2.26 kg (5 pounds), while the Crème d’Argent in the USA weighs in at up to 11 pounds (5 kg). In the United States, they have commercial meat rabbit bodies with the delicious creamed orange color - "creamy white with an orange cast carried throughout" (ARBA Standard of Perfection). Find the UK Breed Standard of excellence at http://www.thebrc.org.
References:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar.1091290108/abstract
http://www.helium.com/knowledge/196853-rabbit-breed-facts-champagne-dargent
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2955994/rabbit_breed_profiles_the_champagne.html?cat=53
http://www.examiner.com/small-farms-in-dallas/history-of-the-champagne-d-argent-rabbit
http://www.thebrc.org/argente.htm
ARBA Standards of Perfection
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