Have you heard of the baguette diamond? It’s not a diamond cut you hear about often, and certainly not as a centre stone, yet they’re more common than you think. The perfect accent for any sparkling centerpiece, the baguette cut manages to be both vintage and contemporary, reminiscent of the Art Deco period while also echoing the clean lines of modern minimalism. Diamonds come in many different beautiful shapes. Many people know the common diamond shapes such as round cut, emerald cut and cushion cut, even the elongated cushion cut, but a lot of people are not familiar with the baguette cut and how it can feature on engagement rings.
The baguette cut diamond has a long, rectangular shape and is cut with 14 facets. This shape belongs to the “step-cut” family, which also includes emerald and Asscher cut diamonds. In fact, many people often confuse emerald and baguette cuts. The two are similar, but there are some key differences, including:
Baguette diamonds are often used as side or accent stones instead of being featured as the center stone. Why? These diamonds are very thin and complement almost every other diamond shape, without detracting from the beauty of your center stone. They can also be cost-effective, as the long cut can provide more bling for a thin band (as opposed to multiple, more costly diamonds in a pave or channel setting.) It’s also common to wear baguette diamonds on an eternity band. Due to their narrow and elongated shape, they look elegant and sophisticated when placed in an eternity band setting. It may be difficult to find solitaire baguette cut diamonds, but you may be able to custom order this type of setting if you’d like. There’s no end to their versatility!
If you plan on shopping for baguette cut diamonds, there are a few things that you should keep in mind. First, if you are buying a setting that has baguette cut diamonds as side or accent stones, make sure that the color of the baguette diamonds matches the color of the center stone.
Brilliant cuts such as round or princess cut diamonds will look whiter than baguette diamonds of the same color grade. If you are buying a piece of jewelry with either of these cuts as the center stone, choose baguettes that have a higher color grade than the center stone to ensure that they match.
The baguette cut is a step cut, which means imperfections and color tend to be more visible in this shape. However, baguette cut diamonds are typically much smaller than other cuts, which means as long as you cannot see any inclusions or blemishes with the naked eye, the clarity grade of the baguette diamond is not as important as the other factors. Instead, make sure the color and overall appearance of your baguette is similar to the other diamonds (baguettes or otherwise) in your ring.