Marquise
Marquise Length-to-Width Ratio
The narrowest window of any shape. Half a point either side of it and the stone stops looking like a marquise.
Written by the Mapple Gems workshop, Surat Β· Updated 23 August 2026
Short answer
Divide a marquise's length by its width. The accepted range is roughly 1.75 to 2.15, and 1.90 to 2.00 is the classic proportion. Below 1.75 it reads squat and unresolved; above 2.15 it becomes a sliver with fragile points. The ratio is never printed on a report β you calculate it from the measurements line.
Every elongated shape has a ratio, but the marquise is the one where getting it wrong is most obvious. An oval at 1.30 and an oval at 1.50 both look like ovals. A marquise at 1.60 looks like a mistake, and a marquise at 2.30 looks like a splinter.
This is because the eye reads a marquise against a strong internal expectation: two symmetrical curves meeting at two points, with the widest part exactly halfway. Deviate from the proportion and the shape stops resolving as itself.
Working it out
Take the measurements line from the report or the specification β length Γ width Γ depth, in millimetres. Divide the first figure by the second.
A 15.0 Γ 7.5 mm marquise has a ratio of 2.00. A 14.0 Γ 7.8 mm marquise is 1.79. No laboratory prints this, because it is arithmetic on figures they have already given you. Almost no seller prints it either, which leaves the single most shape-defining number as something the buyer has to derive.
The bands
| Ratio | How it reads | Points | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below 1.75 | Squat; reads like a widened oval that went wrong | Blunter, sturdier | Avoid unless you have seen it |
| 1.75β1.85 | Fuller, softer, more antique in feel | Reasonably protected | A deliberate, wearable choice |
| 1.90β2.00 | The classic marquise | Standard | The default when ordering unseen |
| 2.00β2.15 | Dramatic, very finger-lengthening | Sharper, more exposed | Fine, with V-prongs at both ends |
| Above 2.15 | Narrow to the point of looking like a sliver | Very fine, genuinely fragile | Only after seeing the specific stone |
Notice that ratio and durability are linked on this shape in a way they are not on an oval. A longer marquise has finer points, because the two curves meet at a shallower angle. Ratio is therefore not purely an aesthetic dial here β it is partly a structural one, and it changes how much the setting has to do.
Two faults the ratio does not describe
The bow-tie. Every brilliant cut stretched into an elongated outline develops a dark band across its waist, and the marquise β the most elongated of all β typically shows the strongest one. It is not tint or dirt: pavilion facets stretched to fill a long shape sit shallow across the middle and return whatever is overhead, which when you are looking at the ring is your own head and shoulders.
It appears on no report and in no still photograph, because a lightbox surrounds the stone with light and removes the dark object above it. The only test is a handheld video in an ordinary room. Watch whether the band breaks up as the stone tilts, or sits there as a solid grey mass.
Wings and bulge. A marquise has two "wings" β the curved sides between the widest point and each tip. Cut with too much curve and the stone bulges, reads heavy, and can catch on clothing at the widest point. Cut too straight and the shape looks angular and mean. Neither state changes the ratio at all, so two 1.95 marquises can look quite different. Only a face-up image against a plain background shows it.
From our bench in Surat
The marquise has one symmetry check nothing else has, and it is worth thirty seconds of your time: do the two points sit exactly opposite each other on the long axis? If one tip is fractionally off-centre, the whole stone reads as though it is leaning, and once it is set in a ring you will notice it every time you look down.
We check this by laying a straight edge along the length in the render before casting, and we will do it on request for any stone we are quoting. It costs nothing and it catches the one marquise fault that cannot be corrected afterwards β a head is built to the stone, so a leaning outline stays a leaning outline for the life of the ring.
Ratio and the hand
The marquise is the most finger-lengthening shape there is, which is much of its appeal. But length is bought at the cost of width, because weight is fixed: as the ratio climbs the stone grows along the finger and shrinks across it.
And apparent size is a ratio between stone and finger, not an absolute. The same marquise reads much larger on a size 4 hand than on a size 7. Before committing to a length, cut a paper shape at the actual millimetres and lay it on the hand it is for β particularly at larger weights, where a marquise can run past the width of the finger and sit awkwardly over the knuckle joints on either side.
Before you commit
- Calculate the ratio yourself from the measurements line.
- Default to 1.90β2.00 if you are ordering without seeing the stone.
- Ask for a face-up image on a plain background to judge the wings.
- Check that both points sit on the long axis.
- Judge the bow-tie on a handheld video in ordinary light, never on stills.
- Specify V-prongs at both ends, and more firmly the higher the ratio.
- Paper cut-out at the actual millimetres, on the actual hand.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best length-to-width ratio for a marquise?
1.90 to 2.00 is the classic proportion and the safest default when ordering unseen. 1.75β1.85 gives a fuller, more antique feel; 2.00β2.15 is dramatic and very finger-lengthening but has finer points.
Where is the ratio shown on a certificate?
It is not shown. Take the measurements line β length Γ width Γ depth in millimetres β and divide the first figure by the second. A 15.0 Γ 7.5 mm marquise has a ratio of 2.00.
Does a longer marquise chip more easily?
The points become finer as the ratio rises, because the two curves meet at a shallower angle, so there is less material at the tips. The stone is no less hard; it is more exposed. V-prongs at both ends resolve most of it.
Why does my marquise have a dark band across the middle?
That is a bow-tie, and every elongated brilliant has one. Pavilion facets stretched to fill a long outline return whatever is overhead β your own reflection β rather than light. Strength varies, and it is judged on a rotating video in ordinary room light.
Can two marquises at the same ratio look different?
Yes. The ratio describes the box around the stone, not the curve of the wings inside it. One can bulge and read heavy while another looks angular, at identical measurements. Only a face-up image on a plain background reveals this.
Send a number, not an adjective
Made to order in our Surat workshop β ratio, wing shape, prong type and profile height are all still open before casting.
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