One of the choices to make in buying diamonds is cut (one of the 4 Cs), and one such cut is the marquise, a football shape named for the Marquise of Pompadour. But as the story goes, the shape has nothing to do with a football; allegedly, Louis XIV had a diamond cut to resemble the Marquise’s exquisitely shaped mouth. So perhaps it’s more accurate to call the marquise cut lip-shaped.
Marquise cuts can make a diamond look bigger than it is, as it has a large crown surface; in rings, marquises cuts also make fingers appear slimmer. The standard in a high quality stone is a length that is one-and-three-quarters to two-and-a-quarter times the width, though it’s up to the buyer to choose based on aesthetic preference. When looking at marquise diamonds in pawn shops in Loudoun, VA, check out the alignment: the two end points should align. Any asymmetry is undesirable and will throw off the look when the stone is set.
Because those points are vulnerable to chipping, a marquise diamond should always be set with prongs to protect them (this has the added advantage of hiding flaws that may be present near the outer edges of the stone). If you have any questions about this beautiful cut, just ask when you visit Loudoun Jewelry on Maple Ave!