In
1745, King Louis XV of France bestowed
upon Madame Pompadour the title
of Marquise. The boat-shaped diamonds
that appeared in Paris at that
time were named "marquise" in honor
of the Marquise de Pompadour.
Diamond cutters polish marquises,
pear shapes, and ovals from similarly
shaped rough material. This is
done in an effort to minimize weight
loss, or to allow removal of undesirable
portions from the rough material.
The cut distributions vary with
the size of the rough. For instance,
a cutter may decide to cut two-thirds
of the material into marquises
if the finished weights are expected
to be below 0.25 carat, while if
the finished weights are expected
to be over 0.3 carat, only about
one-half may become marquise shapes.
If the weights are expected to
be over two carats, very few marquises
will be cut, and the cutter will
opt for pear shapes instead. Compared
to rubies and sapphires, where
ovals far outnumber other cuts,
there are many marquise diamonds,
possibly because they have strong
brilliance than ovals in small
sizes. |
Many small
marquises are cut to about 4 x 2mm
(0.16 x 0.08 in). It would be possible
to make an even smaller marquise
at 3 x 1.5 mm (0.12 x 0.06 in), but
a diamond of that size- no matter
how well cut- would lose the beautiful
brilliance that is all-important.
Furthermore, the marquise shape itself
would become indistinct at such small
sizes. I believe that 3.5 x 1.8mm
(0.14 x 0.07 in) is the smallest
viable marquise size. There are optimum
cutting styles for gemstones based
on size and shape. For example, small
round brilliants with diameters of
1.2mm (.05 in) show stronger brilliance
as single cuts (18 facets) than as
full cuts (58 facets). Currently,
India is the main cutting center
for small marquise cuts.
The marquise in the photograph to
the next page is 1.31 carats, with
a beautifully balanced length -to-
width ratio of 1.8 to 1. Its face-up
outline- the essence of shape- is
also well executed, making it a fine
example of a gem-quality marquise.
Marquise cuts look larger than other
shapes in the same weight, but if
a stone is too shallow or too deep,
or if the culet is too long, an obvious
black "bow tie"-shapes area appear
in the center of the stone. |
