Brilliance 64 · Fire 89 · Scintillation 86 · in our census, where the T73 scores 93 · 78 · 80 in diamond
Pointed at both ends and long for its width: more fire and sparkle than the T73, and much less light.
A marquise, also called the navette, is a brilliant drawn out to a point at each end. In our model it is 2.059 times as long as it is wide, with 87 facets, a 31.41° pavilion and 62.0% depth.
In diamond it beats the T73 Round Brilliant on fire and scintillation and loses on four scores, one of them by a wide margin: brilliance. Even so, it returns more light than any other elongated cut we measure in diamond: the oval scores 47, the pear 53, the teardrop 46.
The marquise is often said to have the largest face for its weight of any classic shape. Our census does not bear that out in diamond: its spread is 100, level with the T73's 100.
Compared with the T73 Round Brilliant in diamond. A difference counts from 3 points (Brilliance, Fire, Tilt, Leakage), 5 (Scintillation, Symmetry), 2 (Spread) or 5% (weight); Tilt counts as a pro only for a stone within 5 points of the brilliance it is compared with. How we measure.
At a glance: the Marquise Cut in diamond (white) against the T73 Round Brilliant in diamond (dashed): solid white where it reaches further, hatched where it falls short. Each pro and con is explained, with pictures, below.
Against the T73 Round Brilliant in diamond: ahead on 2, level on 1, behind on 5.
Fire 89 against 78 for the T73 Round Brilliant in diamond: 11 points higher
Only two cuts we measure in diamond show more. The long facets toward the points send light out at wide angles, where it separates into colour.
Marquise Cut in diamond · Fire 89
T73 Round Brilliant in diamond · Fire 78
Scintillation 86 against 80 for the T73 Round Brilliant in diamond: 6 points higher
Its 87 facets against the T73's 73 give more flashes as the stone moves, spread along its length.
Marquise Cut · 87 facets · Scintillation 86
T73 Round Brilliant · 73 facets · Scintillation 80
Try it yourself: Compare the Scintillation spoke in the Cut Performance Wheel
Brilliance 64 against 93 for the T73 Round Brilliant in diamond: 29 points lower
Brilliance is the marquise's heaviest loss. The pavilion figure of 31.41° is well under the 38.9° guide minimum we use for round designs, and in the census much of the light leaves through the back instead of coming up. We have not measured a steeper marquise, so we cannot say how much that would recover.
Marquise Cut in diamond · Brilliance 64
T73 Round Brilliant in diamond · Brilliance 93
What helps: No elongated cut we measure returns more light in diamond. For more, a round: the T73 Round Brilliant Diamond returns 93.
Try it yourself: Open this Light Return map in the simulator
Leakage 17 against 2 for the T73 Round Brilliant in diamond: 15 points higher
A marquise in our census loses 17% of its light through the back, the T73 just 2%. It is still the least leakage of the elongated cuts we measure: the pear loses 22%, the oval 27%.
Marquise Cut in diamond · Leakage 17
T73 Round Brilliant in diamond · Leakage 2
What helps: Size does not change the share, and among elongated cuts it already leaks least. For less in a fancy shape, the Cushion Cut Diamond leaks 9%.
Try it yourself: Tilt it yourself in the simulator's light map
Symmetry 94 against 100 for the T73 Round Brilliant in diamond: 6 points lower
Stretching the plan along one axis makes the pavilion facets differ in size within the design. Symmetry 94 is a small gap, just over our threshold.
Marquise Cut · 87 facets · Symmetry 94
T73 Round Brilliant · 73 facets · Symmetry 100
What helps: The Oval Cut Diamond keeps an elongated outline with Symmetry 98, though it returns less light.
Try it yourself: Compare the Symmetry spoke in the Cut Performance Wheel
Tilt 87 against 92 for the T73 Round Brilliant in diamond: 5 points lower
Tipped by 20°, the marquise keeps 87 of its face-up light against 92 for the T73. The gap is modest next to its brilliance.
Marquise Cut in diamond · Tilt 87
T73 Round Brilliant in diamond · Tilt 92
What helps: The Oval Cut Diamond holds 92, level with the T73, but starts from less light.
Try it yourself: Compare the Tilt spoke in the Cut Performance Wheel
Choose the marquise for an elongated diamond with plenty of colour and sparkle, and accept that it returns far less light than a round. Of the elongated cuts we measure, it is the one we would pick in diamond: the most light and the least leakage of the group. A dark band across the middle, the bowtie, is common in elongated cuts; we do not measure it.
The points need protecting, usually with V-prongs. If light matters more than outline, the T73 Round Brilliant Diamond; for more fire in an elongated cut, the Oval Cut Diamond at 92.
Not by our spread score, which compares face-up area at the same weight: 100 against 100 for the T73. Its length may make it look larger on the finger.
Yes: Fire 89 against 78 for the T73, among the highest we measure.
The marquise returns more light, 64 against 47, and leaks less, 17% against 27%; the oval has a little more fire, 92.
2.09 ct: 6.5 mm is its width, and at a ratio of 2.059 the stone is about twice as long.
The Marquise Cut as exact geometry: 87 planar facets, real-world scale, ready for CAD, rendering, printing and casting.
The Marquise Cut as a faceting design: 67 + 20 girdles = 87 facets, 64 index, 2-fold mirror-image symmetry, ready for the machine.
Questions before you buy? Email us.
Diamond: optical properties and the top ten cuts · The Marquise Cut: specifications, model and files