The popularity of the marquis diamond as a center stone in engagement rings seems to have been overtaken by the now popular square cuts like princess, asscher and cushion.
The marquis shaped diamond has a long history and its originator is commonly identified as King Louis The Fifteenth of France who wanted to create a diamond shape that evoked the beauty of the mouth of his mistress.
Also called the navette cut, the best length to width ratio for the marquise is 2:1. It is a beautiful diamond shape as long as the aspect ratio remains at the ideal and that you’re dealing with a reasonable quality of stone.
The Marquise diamond can be thought of as an oval stretched out into two points.
It has a sharpness of character that the traditional rounds and ovals are lacking while still having grace and a sublime nature that you will not find in other pointy diamonds like princesses and trilliants whose points combined with straight edges seem hard and geometric.
Marquise Diamonds Are Cut From A Different Type of Diamond Rough
Exquisitely cut marquise diamonds are a treat to behold. It can be difficult to find a superbly cut marquise diamond because they are typically cut from shallow, irregular diamond rough called macle.
An example is shown to the right.
Increasingly you will see uncut macle rough being used in designer raw diamond jewelry.
This type of jewelry is designer around rough diamonds showcasing their beauty in the raw untouched state.
Using rough macle allows for a nice sized surface area of diamond to be dsiplayed in the jewelry without it weighing a whole lot there bye cutting down on costs.
Similarly, because macle is shallower rough than traditional octahedron crystals that are shaped like two pyramids joined together at the base it would not make any sense to try and get a round brilliant out of it because there would be so much wastage.
This is why marquise shaped diamonds are ideal candidates to be cut from this type of rough although if the rough is too shallow then the resulting marquise diamond will suffer from a flat pavilion and have a watery look to it
Celebrity Marquis Diamond Engagement Rings
There are not too many celebrities that will opt for a marquise cut diamond engagement ring partly because it is relegated to styles of old although Michael Douglas did propose to Catherine Zeta Jones
with a sideways canted marquise diamond set in an antique style mounting designed by Fred Leighton.
Jamie Lynn Spears also sported a marquis diamond engagement ring in a simple modern style flanked by two tapered baguettes.Take a look at it top right. It is quite an elegant and simple looking engagement ring with a perfectly proportioned marquise center stone.
A marquise engagement ring does have its charm so there is no need to shy away from the cut if you are hell bent on it just because it nobody else seems to getting a marquise diamond.
Marquise Diamonds Are Flattering To Hands
If you have short stubby fingers like the image to the right there is no better choice in an engagement ring style than that with a marquise center diamond. You can even opt for a more extreme length to
width ratio like 2.5:1 and still have the ring look good on your finger.
There is no other cut of diamond that will add length to your stubby or fat ring finger like a marquise diamond. Check out this fat hand to the right and tell me that the stumpy looking ring finger will not benefit form the addition of a nice North South oriented marquise diamond ring.
This is one of the reasons why three stone marquise ring are so popular in the budget diamond jewelry section.
Marquise diamonds offer the biggest bang for the buck in terms of sheer diamond presence and when you times this by three then you will have the biggest diamond three stone ring look for the money and not only that, it will flatter your stubby hand like no other diamond ring can.
The best Side Stones For Marquise Diamond Rings
There are a wide variety of options for pairing your marquise center stone with an appropriate pair of matching diamonds that will highlight the center stone and make your engagement ring a standout looking piece of jewelry.
The best side diamonds for the marquise are the ones with points I feel. Yes, you see them a lot but as far as classic styles go you will find that pear shaped side diamonds and trilliant side diamonds go very well with a marquise center diamond.
The pear shaped diamonds add a nice flow to the curvaceous marquise wheras the trilliants offer a nice contrast of hard geometrical shape with the flowing shape of the marquise.
If you want a more modern look then tapered or trapezoid shaped baguette diamonds on the sides will
give your engagement ring a more contemporary look while still retaining that flowing north south orientation that will flatter your hand.
Another option is to cant the marquise in an East West orientation like the ring to the right which sports a fancy yellow center marquise diamond with an edgy brushed white gold shank that flows in one continuous sweep over the finger for a very smooth edgy look which is distinctly modern
