Marquise cut diamonds can exhibit something called a ‘bow-tie effect’ which occurs when light doesn’t bounce into the middle of the diamond because of the angles on which the diamond’s facets are cut.
This creates a bow-tie shaped darkness visible at the diamond’s centre. While most agree that this is part of a Marquise diamond’s beauty, a severe bow tie effect is undesirable. All of our diamonds are hand-inspected to ensure they do not possess an overwhelming bow-tie effect.
Another consideration when choosing a marquise diamond is the colour. Because of the way it’s shaped, the marquise stone tends to have more depth in the middle and is shallow at the end, causing the stone to show more of its colour at the tips. It depends on the specific stone, but when choosing a marquise diamond it’s a good idea to choose a colour grade that is one step higher than preferred, to make sure that your gemstone doesn’t display any tints of grey or yellow. We would recommend choosing between D and G for an optimum colour.
Another element to pay attention to when picking a marquise diamond is the symmetry and cut of the shape. With a marquise diamond, it is easier to notice an asymmetrical cut if the two pointed ends of the stone don’t line up. The diamond must have either excellent or a very good symmetry grade. A marquise diamond should also have a length to width ratio of 1.75-2.15.
