The Oval Cut Diamond

The brilliant’s nephew

For centuries, diamond workers polished diamonds in oval shapes. However, the oval cut as we know today was only created in 1957 by Lazare Kaplan. Kaplan came from a family of jewelers and diamond workers. He worked very closely with his uncle Abraham Tolkowsky. Tolkowsky was (and is) famous for creating the modern brilliant: the “Ideal Cut”. Kaplan became well-known for his ability to cleave diamonds. This is a method to cut diamonds with fractures and low clarity into smaller, yet clearer diamonds.

Unusable diamonds get a second chance

Kaplan specialized himself in improving diamonds that everyone else thought were unusable or worthless. His abilities as cleaver gave him the opportunity to transform these diamonds into some of the most beautiful polished diamonds from that era.

The modern oval cut

The name Kaplan was already known, but he wasn’t famous yet. This changed when Kaplan created the “Modern Oval Cut”. This brought him a spot in the Hall of Fame of jewelers. Nowadays, oval cut diamonds are one of the most beautiful and sparkling cuts in the world.

Considerations when buying an oval diamond

For a brilliant cut diamond, the ideal ratio is 1:1. For an oval diamond, the ideal ratio varies from 1:1.35 to 1:1.50. There is no golden standard for this. I can tell you that long and thin ovals appear sharper and more striking, while short broad ovals look more smooth and elegant. For a ring with multiple ovals, I would recommend slender ovals.

Watch out for the Bow Tie Effect

Every oval cut diamond has a “bow-tie effect”. This is a dark discoloration in the center of the stone. This is an effect of the facets placement and the reflection of light within the diamond. Often a light bow tie effect will improve an oval cut’s beauty. However, when this effect is too strong, it has a negative consequence – it makes the diamond less pretty. The best way to find out how much of a bow tie is too much is just visual inspection and personal preference.

Appearance

Oval cuts appear bigger because the table of an oval is 10% larger of the one from a brilliant of the same weight. It is, therefore, not that strange that people often opt for an oval diamond instead of a round one. Even though oval diamonds are a bit rarer than “Princess cuts”, they aren’t necessarily more expensive than the square cut. Ovals and Princesses have a similar polishing loss. The polisher aims to lose as little diamond as possible when creating an oval or a princess.

Celebrities with oval cuts

• Blake Lively received an oval cut from her husband Ryan Reynolds. This diamond is the center stone on a ring and has three ovals on every side.
• Selma Hayek got from her boyfriend Francios-Henry Pinault a platinum ring with a 5-carat oval diamond, flanked by trilliant cut diamonds. This ring has a value of $ 200000.
• Kate Middleton wears the most famous oval of all times: the sapphire that once belonged to Princess Diana. She got this ring from Prince William.
• Heidi Klum owns a 10-carat canary yellow diamond.
• Katie Holmes received from Tom Cruise – when all was still well – a 5-carat oval cut diamond. This diamond was mounted in platinum and rose gold ring and has a value of $250000.

An engagement ring with an oval diamond

An oval has almost the same sparkle as a brilliant but looks bigger than a brilliant with the same weight. Ovals are feminine and elegant. At Royal Coster Diamonds, we have the most beautiful wedding and engagement rings with this diamond cut. Contact a diamond consultant for rings with oval cut diamonds.