Marquise Engagement Rings

If you want the largest-looking stone your budget will buy, this is it. GIA states plainly that a marquise looks larger face-up than a round diamond of the same weight — the strongest such claim it makes for any shape. It is also the shape most often written off as dated, which is exactly why it is worth looking at now.

Build a marquise ring See stones in person

The marquise in brief

Cut style: Brilliant cut. Faceted for sparkle, in an outline the trade also calls a navette — old French for 'little ship'. Like most fancy shapes it has no standard facet count: GIA's lab sees marquises with six or eight bezels against four, six or eight pavilion mains, so anyone quoting you a single number is repeating a convention rather than a fact.
Length to width: 1.75 to 2.25, with 2:1 the classic. This is the one shape where GIA's sources agree. The classic marquise is about twice as long as it is wide; GIA's buying guide recommends 1.75 to 2.25, and stones submitted to its laboratory most commonly fall between 1.6 and 2.2. There is a practical limit: GIA warns that a marquise cut too long starts to affect its own durability.
One carat measures: About 10.5 × 5.3 mm. A useful sanity check — carat is weight, not size, and two stones of the same weight in different shapes cover quite different amounts of finger.

Choosing a marquise diamond

General four Cs advice is written for round brilliants. Where it differs for this shape, it differs like this.

Clarity hides well at the ends

GIA notes that marquise cuts conceal small inclusions quite well at either end — though the points themselves should be examined, since that is where damage starts.

Colour concentrates at the tips

Like the pear and the heart, a marquise holds more colour than a round brilliant. Aim higher up the scale than you would for a round.

Symmetry is everything

GIA names the faults to look for by name: flat wings, bulged wings, uneven wings and undefined points. On a shape this elongated, a small asymmetry is visible from across a room.

The bow tie, and why you want a little of one

GIA's position on the marquise is more pointed than for any other shape: marquises typically show some degree of bow tie, and those without one usually lack brightness and tend to be dull. So the goal is not to eliminate it but to keep it from becoming distracting. It is worst in stones cut with very shallow or very deep pavilions.

Setting a marquise

The points are the vulnerability. GIA is unambiguous that V-claws are essential, and notes that some cutters use French tips — replacing the large bezel facet at each end with modified star and upper girdle facets — specifically to increase durability. It also notes that slightly greater girdle thickness at the points is acceptable on a marquise, for the same reason.

The wedding ring beside it

One of the two hardest to pair, along with the pear. The points reach past the setting, so a straight band leaves a visible gap at the tip. A shaped or open band solves it, and we cut those to the individual ring rather than fitting a standard curve.

All ten shapes compared, with profile, width and whether to solder the pair.

Where the shape comes from

Developed in France in the 1740s. Legend — and GIA is careful to call it legend — has it that the shape was named for the Marquise de Pompadour, a favourite of Louis XV, because its outline resembled her mouth.

Marquise diamonds, answered

Are marquise diamonds out of style?

They were, and they are not now. GIA records the marquise as a favourite of the Edwardians, popular again in 1970s bridal jewellery, then losing ground to the princess cut by the start of this century. That cycle is precisely why it feels distinctive again: it is a shape with real history that has not been worn to death in the last decade.

Do marquise diamonds look bigger?

Yes, and more so than any other shape. GIA states outright that a marquise will look larger face-up than a round diamond of the same weight. If the face-up size of the stone is what matters most to you, this is the shape that delivers it.

Do marquise diamonds break easily?

The points are the risk, not the stone. A diamond is the hardest natural material there is, but hardness is not toughness — a sharp point can chip against a hard knock. It is a solved problem: V-claws at each end, and on some stones French tips cut into the ends specifically to add durability. Set properly, a marquise is an everyday ring.

What is the best ratio for a marquise diamond?

Between 1.75 and 2.25, with the classic marquise at about 2:1. Shorter than that and it loses the elongation that makes the shape; longer and GIA warns the durability of the stone itself starts to suffer.

What wedding band goes with a marquise engagement ring?

Almost always a shaped one. The points of a marquise sit proud of the setting, so a straight band meets it at the widest part and leaves a gap at the tips. A band cut to follow the ring closes it, and a plain band worn slightly apart is a legitimate look in its own right. We make these to the individual ring, because the gap is different on every one.

Other shapes

Undecided is a perfectly good place to start — come and see several side by side, which is the only way to settle it. Before that, the natural and laboratory-grown comparison and the ring size guide are the two things worth reading.

Sources

Gemmological claims on this page are from the Gemological Institute of America. Where GIA gives no figure — facet counts for most fancy shapes, several length-to-width ratios — we say so rather than repeat a trade convention as fact.