The long and narrow marquise cut diamond is a football-shaped, modified brilliant-cut with 56 facets. It is a beautiful and distinguished cut with a royal pedigree - the name was derived from the Marquise of Pompadour, for whom King Louis XIV of France allegedly had a stone fashioned to resemble the silhouette of her perfectly-shaped mouth.

Similar to the oval and pear shapes, the extended profile of the marquise makes it seem larger than other diamonds of the same carat weight and often has the flattering effect of making the wearer’s fingers look thinner.

Like the oval and pear shaped diamonds, marquise cut diamonds posses some degree of bow-tie - an effect that appears like a dark area running right to left across the center of the diamond in the approximate shape of a man's bow tie. This effect, varying from near invisible to severe, is caused by misaligned facets leaking light that should ideally be reflected back towards the viewer.

Unfortunately, the visibility of a bow-tie effect is not included in the diamond certificate, so it is very important to have your diamond carefully inspected, in person, by a diamond expert.

Here are our cut, color and clarity recommendations for maximum beauty, brilliance and value in a marquise diamond:

*Disclaimer: We are in no way guaranteeing that you will receive the best diamond possible if you blindly purchase a stone with these attributes. We are simply suggesting that, in our experience, we believe that narrowing down your selection of diamonds to only those that fall within these ranges of attributes, will give you the best chance of maximizing your diamonds beauty, brilliance and value. And we highly recommend having your diamond evaluated, in person, by an educated and experienced diamond expert before making your final purchase. Please contact one of our diamond experts, who will select and review diamonds on your behalf. Chat with us on our site, email us at info@mintdiamonds.com or call us at 1-877-646-8669