WHY CHOOSE A MARQUISE CUT DIAMOND?
The Marquise cut Diamond is also known as the Navette Cut because of its likeness to the hull of a sailboat, as Navette is French for ‘little boat’.
It is known to be one of the fancy cuts as it is in fact a modified brilliant, meaning that you are able to witness the fire and brilliance of a Round Brilliant cut without having to have a round gem.
This shape works best at the heart of a trio, flanked by two smaller Round Brilliant cuts or just on its own as a solitaire.
This diamond shape origins way back to the early 18th Century when the French King Louis XV commissioned a jeweler to design a diamond to be cut to resemble the lips of his mistress the Marchioness Madame de Pompadour. Being a modified brilliant, it is obvious that the Marquise Cut Diamond as we know it today was different when Louis XV requested the cut to be made. This is because the brilliant cut was not properly around until the early 20th Century. ‘Marquise’ refers to a hereditary rank above a count but below a duke, and comes from the fact courtiers wore this cut diamond in order to show off their rank.
The current Marquise diamond was developed during the 1960’s. It became super popular throughout the 1970’s and reached its pinnacle during the 1980’s.
Technical Specifications
- As this diamond is a modified brilliant cut, it has the typical facet arrangement and facet count of 56 to 58.
- The greatest amount of fire and brilliance would be a length to width ratio of 1.85 to 2.10.
- Its typical depth percentage is usually between 59%-63%.