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The Blog

Quality Control: Ovals, Pears and Marquise Diamonds

Previously on the blog we went into detail about cut, color and clarity recommendations for the two most popular diamond shapes: round cut and cushion cut. Today we will get into the details for three fancy shape diamonds and give you some guidelines to keep in mind when selecting your loose diamond. The shapes we will be discussing are oval, pear shape, and marquise. What these three diamond shapes all have in common is that they have large face up appearances with naturally elongated shapes and provide a slimming effect to the finger of the person wearing it. They are also brilliant cuts so will have a lot of sparkle as well.  Because there are such variations within each cut these might be the trickiest diamond shapes to predict based off of a certificate alone so we will try to give you some more insight here

OVAL DIAMOND
Cut: As with any fancy shape diamond, there is no official “cut” grade on the certificate of the diamond. The polish and symmetry grade are not the only factors to take into account since it does not tell you about the proportions of the diamond. This has to be assessed by the person looking at the diamond since there are a lot of factors not obvious on the certificate. One important factor is the length to width ratio. A more round and compact oval is going to have a Length to Width ratio in the 1:1.3 range whereas a more elongated oval is going to have a ratio above 1.4, closer to 1.5 ratio. The 1.4 ratio is a good middle ground, but by no means a strict number that you can’t deviate from. There is definitely room to play with on a case by case basis and we suggest opting for what is most visually pleasing to your eye and style of ring you have in mind.
Custom two-tone oval halo engagement ringFor oval cuts, it is also important to look at not only the carat weight of the diamond, but the millimeter measurements because this tells you how the diamond appears face-up verses just how much it weighs. Figure you can have a person who weighs 150 pounds and is 5”3 or you can have a person who weighs 150 pounds and is 6’ tall. While the ideal millimeter measurement changes based on the ratios, these are important things to assess visually. For example, a 2 carat oval should be over 9mm to give you the biggest look. With that being said, we create a lot of rings that are 1.7 carats oval center stones, with 9.6mm in length for the measurements, giving you a big face up appearance. See this video showing oval diamonds with different length to width ratios thus giving you a different face up appearance at similar carat weights

Color: For oval cuts, they tend to show color more easily. See this video comparing oval and round cut diamonds. Notice the G color oval diamond (3rd one shown) shows more color than an H color round cut. This is because ovals have a large surface area they disperse color in a different way. Generally, we recommend I color and above for ovals, and if someone is extremely particular, to stay even above that.

Clarity: Ovals are excellent at hiding imperfections, so we recommend that the diamond should be of SI2 clarity and above. This video shown here displays an SI2 clarity oval with beautiful sparkle, no visible imperfections to the naked eye, all the inclusions are dispersed within the diamond to give off a very clean looking stone. This again truly varies on a case by case basis! Some SI2’s may not be as great so once again do not base your purchase on the certificate alone.

Pear shape and Marquise diamonds were extremely popular years ago and are slowly making a comeback! Like the oval, both of these shapes provide large surface areas giving you a big overall look

PEAR SHAPE
Cut: Pear diamonds will have ratios between 1.4-1.7 generally, with 1.4 ratio being shorter and Pear shape two-tone engagement ringrounded and 1.7 being long and thinner. If you are opting for a halo setting, a more elongated pear shape is going to give you a huge face up surface area. Once set in the ring, the halo will fill out the edges and it will not look as slim. If you are opting for a solitaire setting, something with a lower ratio below 1.6 will appear more proportionate on the hand and in the ring setting.
We do stress that the actual shape of each is extremely particular. No two pear shapes are ever cut exactly the same even if they weigh the same and that is why a real life visual (like videos we provide) is necessary to really see the nuances. Take a look at this video of pear shape diamonds and note how every diamond is shaped a little differently even at similar carat weights.  In terms of shape, go for the one that looks the most appealing to you!

Color: Like oval, pear diamonds can show color easily. We recommend ‘I’ color and above to give you the whitest face up look. See this video showing a side by side comparison of a colorless pear shape diamond next to an ‘I’ color:  This comes down to what color you are most comfortable with and what your eye picks up.

Clarity: Pear shapes hide imperfections well, and we can safely recommend eye clean SI2 clarity diamonds and above for this shape. As with any shape you do want to avoid black inclusions in the center as they can be visible to the naked eye if they are large enough.

MARQUISE DIAMOND
Cut: The ideal length for a marquise-cut diamond is 1.75 to 2.25 of its width; generally, the stone should be about twice as longs as it is wide. As a general rule, we recommend getting a visual to see what marquise style appears the most appealing to you. This particular parameter comes down to personal choice. The thing with marquise cut is each diamond can look drastically different even within similar carat sizes. See this video showing diamonds with similar carat weights and how the visual face up look differs 
One thing we will put out there is the tips of marquise make it slightly more vulnerable so it is important to select a diamond that is not too thin, i.e. does not have a very low depth percentage because it can make it susceptible to breakage if hit the wrong way.
Color: Marquise diamonds do not hide color so easily. As a general rule, I color and above is great. See this video giving an in depth side by side look at marquise diamond color variations. The I color is slightly warmer but on its own has a white face up appearance.
Clarity: SI2 clarity and above is perfectly acceptable for marquise cut diamonds. They are generally good at hiding imperfections as with the other shapes discussed in this post because it is a brilliant cut as well.

Stuck between any of these shapes? View our extensive loose diamond video gallery here and get more ideas of the diamond shape that you like the best.

It is also helpful to view some of our comparison videos showing the different shapes side by side
Video of oval diamonds verses pear shape diamonds side by side

Next time on the blog we will be discussing the more square and rectangular diamond shapes along with their quality recommendations. Stay tuned!

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