The marquise brilliant takes is name from a legend that the Sun King desired a stone to be polished into the shape of the mouth of the Marquise of Pompadour.The marquise brilliant is a football-shaped modified brilliant. As with most fancy shapes, the ultimate shape of the finished diamond is determined by the rough crystal and what parameters it allows.
The marquise is usually cut as an adaptation of the 58 facet standard brilliant (33 crown, 25 pavilion), the same as the round brilliant. However, the pavilion can be cut with either 4, 6 or 8 pavilion main facets. The crown cut is sometimes modified in the marquise to form what is called a “French Tip,” where the bezel facet at the point of the stone is eliminated. The length-to-width ratio should be in the 1.75-2.25 range.
A tip with insufficient girdle thickness presents durability problems. On the other hand, an extremely thick girdle can cause difficulty in setting and hides weight.
In the marquise brilliant, as with pear shapes and other elongated fancy shapes, there is an increased likelihood of having a “bow tie.” This is a dark area in the shape of a man’s bow tie that occurs when the cut of facets reflecting light are not optimum. This facet misalignment can detract from the brilliance, especially if it is an exaggerated or overly dark bow tie effect.
The demand for marquise brilliant diamonds has declined in recent years with the oval brilliant taking over the elongated symmetrical fancy shape of choice.
Advice: Marquise diamonds frequently display a bow tie, so finding a stone in which this is minimal or absent is the greatest challenge for finding a beautiful marquise. We seek marquise diamonds with depth 58-65.4% and table 52-65.4%. We prefer the length-to-width ratio in the 1.75 to 2.00 range. The marquise has a very big surface area for the carat weight so is an excellent option if you want a big, look for fewer dollars. We recommend at least I color and SI1 clarity for marquise shaped diamonds.
The following photos are only a sampling of oval cut diamond ring styles. Hundreds of mounting styles look great with oval cut diamonds so just email us a picture of the style you like and we can get you a price quote. You can also check out our Designer Gallery for pictures of mountings from some of our suppliers.
Marquise Cut Diamond Ring: 0.79 carat with 0.45 tcw Blue Sapphires
Marquise Cut Diamond Ring 0.79 carat in 6-prong Solitaire style mounting
Marquise Cut Diamond Ring: 0.91 carat with 1.92 ratio in Solitaire style mounting
Marquise Cut Diamond Ring: 1.04 carat FIY with 2.27 ratio and 0.81 tcw Crescent Half Moons
Marquise Cut Diamond Ring: 1.63 carat with 1.74 ratio and 0.40 tcw pave mounting
Marquise Cut Diamond Ring: 2.40 carat with 1.90 ratio in Solitaire style mounting