Fancy Shapes: Marquise, Pear, Oval, Briolette and Cabochon
Round is the shape that wastes the most rough and returns the most light. Everything else on this page exists because a cutter looked at an awkward crystal and decided that keeping the weight mattered more than following the rules.
A round brilliant throws away more of the original crystal than any other cut. That is acceptable when rough is plentiful and a well-cut round sells at a premium. For most of history neither was true, and the shapes below are what cutters did instead: follow the crystal, keep the weight, accept a compromise in the light.
Marquise
A pointed oval, also called a navette, which is French for little boat.
The romantic story is that Louis XV asked for a stone cut to match the mouth of the Marquise de Pompadour. It is almost certainly not true, but the name stuck and the shape dates from the eighteenth century regardless.
What to check. The points. They are thin, they are exposed, and they are where a marquise chips. Any setting worth having covers both points with metal. Check symmetry too: the widest part should sit exactly halfway, and the two points should line up through the centre. A marquise that is off by a degree looks off by ten.
Pear
Round at one end, pointed at the other, and one of the oldest fancy shapes still in regular use.
The pear is a weight-saving shape before it is an aesthetic one: an irregular crystal with one good end will yield a pear where it would not yield a round. It suits pendants and drops because it hangs correctly without help, which is why almost every eighteenth and nineteenth century girandole earring uses one.
What to check. The point again, and the shoulders: they should curve smoothly from the widest part into the point without a flat section or a sudden shoulder. Flat shoulders make a pear look like a teardrop drawn by someone in a hurry.
Oval brilliant
Ovals have been cut for centuries, but the modern faceting arrangement is Lazare Kaplan's, from 1957.
The bow tie. Every elongated brilliant - oval, marquise, pear - has a dark band across its middle, shaped like a bow tie. It is caused by the pavilion facets in the belly of the stone shadowing the viewer's own head. It cannot be eliminated, only managed: a well-cut oval has a faint one, a badly cut oval has a black one that swallows the centre of the stone. Look for it in daylight from directly above, and if a seller's photographs never show the stone face up in even light, assume there is a reason.
Briolette
A drop faceted all the way around with no girdle, no table and no flat plane anywhere.
Medieval in origin and technically among the most demanding things a cutter can do, because there is no flat surface to hold the stone against while working. Briolettes are drilled and hung so they swing, which is the entire point: a stone that turns catches light from directions a set stone never will. They appear in Georgian and Victorian pendants and are almost impossible to fake convincingly, because the work is visible.
Cabochon
Not a cut at all. A dome, polished rather than faceted.
Faceting works by bouncing light back out of a transparent stone. Where the material is opaque or translucent there is nothing to bounce, so faceting achieves nothing and a smooth dome shows the colour and the surface to better effect. Garnet, moonstone, turquoise, opal, coral, jet, chalcedony and star sapphires are almost always cabochons, and the ones that show a star or a cat's eye can only show it cut this way.
Which shapes tell you anything about date
| Shape | Dating value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Briolette | Good | Rare, difficult, mostly pre-1900 or high-end modern |
| Marquise | Moderate | Eighteenth century onward, but the modern faceting is post-war |
| Pear | Weak | In continuous use for four hundred years |
| Oval | Moderate | The modern facet arrangement is from 1957 |
| Cabochon | None | Unchanged since antiquity |
In every case the mount dates the piece more reliably than the stone shape does. Shape tells you about the rough the cutter was given; the setting tells you about the year.
Frequently asked questions
What is a marquise cut diamond?
A pointed oval brilliant, also called a navette. The shape dates from the eighteenth century, and its weak points are the two tips, which chip easily and should be protected by the setting.
What is a bow tie in a diamond?
A dark band across the centre of an elongated stone caused by the pavilion facets shadowing the middle. Ovals, marquises and pears all have one. A faint bow tie is normal; a black one indicates a poorly proportioned cut.
Why are some gemstones not faceted?
Because faceting only works on transparent material. Opaque and translucent stones such as turquoise, opal, moonstone and jet are polished into cabochons instead, which shows their colour and surface to better effect and is the only way to reveal a star or a cat's eye.
Is a cabochon worth less than a faceted stone?
Not inherently. The cut follows the material. A fine opal or a star sapphire could not be faceted at all, and the best of them sell far above ordinary faceted stones.
What is a briolette?
A drop-shaped stone faceted over its entire surface, with no table and no girdle, usually drilled at the top so it hangs and turns. It is medieval in origin and one of the most difficult cuts to execute.