Bringing the Knowledge About Awe-Inspiring Marquise-Cut Diamonds to your Light
Posted by Hari Krishna
July 28, 2021
Marquise – what a captivating name for diamond cuts, right? Well, the marquise-cut diamonds have their origin rooted in a smile. Yes, you read it right.
In the 1740s, then King Louis XV of France named this diamond-cut after his paramour – Marquise de Pompadour, as this cut resembled the shape of her mouth.
Also, the name – marquise-cut diamonds reflect the rank of courtiers in the reign of Britain king King Edward VII, between count and the duke who used to wear them, in the early 20th century.
However, marquise-cut diamonds are referred to with different names today, like football-shaped diamonds, eye-shaped diamonds, or the navette (little ship-shaped) diamonds.
Do you know the irony here? None of these names are incorrect because the elongated and narrow design of marquise-cut diamonds is similar in shape to all these things.
With a history steeped in old-world romance and aristocracy, the marquise-cut diamonds became a favored alternative to the round-cut diamonds in the 1970s.
Even today, these whimsical marquise-cut diamonds seize the heart of the people as they represent a smile.
Though the marquise-cut diamonds originated from the brilliant smile, they brought the notable revolution in diamond cutting in the 18th-century by innovating the facet arrangement of diamond-brilliant cuts.
While the graceful marquise-cut diamonds have refined in terms of cut characteristics over time, they still hold that inherent beauty of the original cut.
Thus, if you are into marquise-cut diamonds, you need to keep certain things to your mind before buying them.
But before going further, let us tell you the basic structure (anatomy) of the marquise-cut diamonds:
The marquise-cut diamonds are fancy-shaped. Thus there are several terms that you need to be familiar with before jumping on to their cut characteristics, which are:
The belly is the central and most-curved (bulged) area of the marquise-cut diamond, where its width is measured.
Like the round brilliant cut diamonds, the girdle in the marquise-cut diamonds is the intersection of their crown and pavilion. The girdle defines the perimeter of the diamonds.
Keel line runs through the length of the diamond to the bottom of a marquise-cut diamond, where the pavilion facets meet.
Points are the two extreme ends of the marquise-cut diamonds, where both the curved sides meet.
The wing is the curved area (from the belly to the points) on both sides of the marquise-cut diamonds.
Now let us move to the technical details, or you may like to call the cut characteristics of the marquise diamond cut:
As we all know, the cut quality of any diamond determines its brilliance and attractiveness. It is the same case with marquise-cut diamonds.
The marquise diamond-cut is essentially an elongated oval diamond cut with points on each end.
However, the marquise-cut diamonds have a brilliant facet arrangement with 58 facets, and when well crafted, they produce outstanding scintillation, just like the round brilliant-cut diamonds.
As stated, there are many aspects of marquise-cut diamonds, which can help you choose your perfect marquise-cut diamond. So, let us see them:
The girdle in any diamond is its setting edge. So to make a diamond look appealing after being set in the jewellery, its girdle should be graded as – very thin.
However, it should be sufficiently thick enough to hold the diamond in jewellery and reduce the risk of damage.
Because an overly thick girdle makes diamond heavier and reduces its sparkle, and an extremely thin girdle makes diamond vulnerable to damage.
The girdle thickness of marquise-cut diamonds requires a special allowance in grading than graded in the other diamond cuts.
Since the points of marquise-cut diamonds are more prone to chipping, it is acceptable to have a slightly thick girdle thickness in marquise-cut diamonds.
The girdle of a marquise cut diamond is generally faceted with valley and hill positions, where the lower and upper half facets meet.
As already stated, both the points of marquise-cut diamonds are more prone to damage/chipping.
Hence, many gem-cutters use french tips at the bottom of the marquise-cut diamond to make them more durable.
French tips are nothing but the replacement of a large bezel facet at each end with smaller ones. Gem-cutters also sometimes adjust the star and upper girdle facets, along with french tips.
French tips are used in some other diamond cuts as well to protect their ends.
The ideal depth percentage for the marquise-cut diamonds is in the range of 58-62%. Otherwise, the diamond may look less attractive.
The ideal table percentage of the marquise-cut diamonds is between the range of 53-63%. Or else, your diamond may look slender or bulgy.
The ideal length-to-width ratio for marquise-cut diamonds should be between 1.6:1 to 2.2:1. Yes, the length of marquise-cut diamonds should be double/nearly double than their width.
The marquise-cut diamonds with an L/W ratio falling outside the defined range look less attractive or stubby in the face-up appearance.
Symmetry and shape appeal is crucial for any diamond cuts & their sparkle, which is the same with marquise-cut diamonds.
Your marquise-cut diamond must look-alike (a mirror-like image) when parted into imaginary two parts with no missing or extra facets on either side, both horizontally and vertically.
Also, your marquise diamonds should not have flat/bulged wings or undefined points to make them look graceful and aesthetically pleasing.
Like many other diamond cuts, marquise-cut diamonds also show the bow-tie-shaped dark area across the central part when viewed from the face-up appearance.
This bow-tie effect is more common when the marquise-cut diamonds are too deep or too shallow.
Hence the slightly deep pavilion and some facet modification can minimize the bow-tie effect in the marquise-cut diamonds.
The bow-tie effect in the marquise-cut diamonds can go anywhere from dark black to grey. However, the darker it is, the worse the appearance of the diamond.
It is not rocket science to figure out whether or not your marquise-cut diamond will show the bow-tie effect.
You can inspect the marquise-cut diamond under normal lighting, and it will show the bow-tie effect if it is going to.
Carat for carat, the marquise-cut diamonds have a wide crown facet, which creates an image of a bigger diamond than its actual size.
Besides, when worn as a ring, the elongated shape of marquise-cut diamonds make the fingers look slimmer and longer.
While vertical is more popular, the versatile shape of marquise-cut diamonds allows them to be set even horizontally or as accent side stones in any piece of jewellery.
Since both the points of marquise-cut diamonds are more prone to damage, the favorable jewellery setting for these diamonds is the prong setting.
However, you can experiment with different jewellery settings for marquise-cut diamonds, like solitaire setting, 4/6 prongs setting, halo setting, bezel setting, channel setting, etc.
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