Everything You Need to Know About Oval Cut Diamonds

Oval cut diamonds get lots of “oohs” and “ahhs” for their brilliance and fire. This cut is a fancy cut that looks bigger than its carat weight, giving you plenty of bang for your buck. Oval shaped diamonds are a popular alternative to the round cut. They’re large, versatile, and brilliant. Let’s take a look at what makes oval cut diamonds so special!

The Anatomy of an Oval Diamond

Oval cut diamonds are a mix of the round brilliant and pear cuts. With a whopping 58 facets, they’re super sparkly - although just a smidge less than round brilliants. The biggest upside of an oval cut is that ovals look a lot bigger than their carat weight, giving them lots of spread and finger coverage.

What makes oval cut diamonds so popular?

The oval cut is a show stopper with oodles of sparkle and an attractive price point. It elongates the fingers and slims the hand, making your fingers and hand look slender and graceful. It’s always in style, unlike some other fancy shapes. What’s not to love?

You might think a cut this beautiful would cost a fortune. But in reality, a one carat oval diamond usually costs (around 25%) less than a one carat round brilliant! As an added bonus, oval cut diamonds look bigger than round brilliant cuts of the same carat weight. You get a significantly bigger rock for less money when you choose the oval. And since the oval has smooth edges, unlike the Pear or Marquise, it’s super strong and chip-resistant.

Oval cut diamonds combine affordability, beauty, and strength - it’s no wonder more and more couples are choosing this shape. These stunning gemstones add character and sparkle to any engagement ring.

Decisions, decisions: choosing an oval cut diamond

One good thing about all ovals is that they hide imperfections well. You can usually choose lower clarity and color grades and still have an eye-clean, colorless-looking stone. That being said, here are a few things to keep in mind.

First, ovals come in different lengths and widths. Long ovals have bigger facets, which act like windows to the center of the stone. The longer and thinner your oval cut diamond is, the higher the color grade you’ll want. Tint is especially visible around the edges, so we don’t recommend low color grades; H or higher is best for ovals. Since this shape is so brilliant, you can play around with which clarity grade you choose. What matters is that the stone is eye-clean - but a SI1 and a VVS1 Oval can look the same to the naked eye. Use our 3D preview tool if you want to make sure you’re buying an eye-clean oval.

Something else to keep in mind with ovals? The bow tie effect, which can ruin an otherwise perfect stone…

Bow tie blues

Oval cut diamonds have what’s known as a “bow tie” in the center. Bow ties are basically two dark triangles that meet in the center of the diamond. All ovals have bow ties - but some are barely visible while others look like permanent black shapes in the middle of your stone.

To minimize the appearance of a bow tie in your oval stone, do the following:

Choose a less elongated, deeper stone
Go for an “excellent” cut; it makes a huge deal with oval cut stones
Preview stones using our 3D preview tool before buying

We pre-select oval center stones with minimal bow ties and film them for your consideration. But don’t fret about the effect too much. So long as you choose well, it’ll be invisible most of the time.

Which settings complement oval cut diamonds?

It’s up to you whether you want to emphasize your oval as The Nelly, or want to flaunt more drip with accent stones, a pave setting, a halo, etc. Many of our customers love The Penelope with oval center stones. Oval cut diamonds also pair well with round cut side stones, like in The Pave Liv. And our The Sofia adds incredible sparkle to oval cut diamonds - a whopping 2.55 carats in total carat weight, to be exact!

Oval Diamonds Go Way Back--Centuries Back!

Though they might look shiny and new, oval shaped diamonds have been around for hundreds of years. They were first documented as early as the fourteenth century - though they looked very different in comparison to modern ovals. The cut had its big break in 1957, when a Russian diamond cutter changed the diamond shape game. Lazare Kaplan invented a new technique to cut oval shaped diamonds that accentuated their brilliance (which is still used today).

Conclusion

From its brilliance and lively sparkle, to its versatility and affordability, it's no wonder the oval cut diamond is so popular. The oval shape is a timeless classic that offers brides-to-be a flattering, elegant look, that will shine for a lifetime.

Whether you want to rock a wider stone or a more elongated shape, Keyzar has got you covered with a huge selection of oval cut beauties. You can view our wide collection of oval engagement rings here!

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