Amazing Optics With Marquise Diamond Ring

A variation of the brilliant cut, a marquise diamond ring seem to be a cross between a boat shape and an oval diamond.

It is believed to have originated in the 18th century when King Louis the 14th commissioned a tapered oval diamond shape with pointed ends mimicking his mistress’s smile.

The diamond was named after her the Marquise de Pompadour.

Most jewelers will only cut a rough diamond in to a fancy marquise shape if it will retain the most weight relative to any other shape.

The marquise diamond has a unique optical effect which is quite beneficial to you.

Most of its weight is concentrated on the top of the table of the diamond which together with its long shape makes the diamond look significantly bigger than it actually is.

You can thus get a smaller marquise diamond but it would look bigger than a similar round diamond.

Proportion is important in fancy cut diamonds and for the marquise diamonds, a 2 to 1 length to width ratio seems to work best.

This means that ideally, a marquise diamonds length should be twice its width.

Usually cut as an adaptation of the standard brilliant cut with its 58 facets; 33 in the crown & 25 in the pavilion.

The marquise diamond suffer from the bow tie effect which is caused by misalignment of facets.

However, this effect is minimized in well cut stones.

This same effect is seen in other elongated diamonds pear shaped diamonds.

A Marquise diamond ring is best set in the basic prong setting with 4 prongs. 2 per side securing the long body of the stone while the other 2 cover the tips to prevent chipping.

• Tips need to be made sufficiently thick to enhance durability but not too thick that it presents difficulty in setting & hide the weight.

• Most marquise diamond rings are set parallel to the finger but vintage rings with the diamond set parallel to the band are also in the market.
• As beautiful and elegant as the marquise shape is, the demand for it has gone down over the years being replaced by the oval brilliant.

THINGS TO LOOK FOR WHEN BUYING A MARQUISE DIAMOND RING

• The stone should be symmetrically cut with both opposing curved sides matching & the tips aligned with the center of the stone.

• The stone should be securely held by the prongs and the tips well protected & also it should sit well on the setting and not be crocked or set off to one side.

• The stones clarity should be IF – VSI since the marquises elongated shape makes inclusions easily visible. The color should be good too.

• The bow tie effect should be as minimal as possible.

Yes its an unusual ring but the marquise could be just the thing to set your engagement on fire!

Diamond Info | Princess Cut Rings | Marquise Rings