So do you know that there's a lot more
variations in oval diamonds than people often realise?
Today, we're going to just address some of the variations that are available.
And then we're also going to give you a
couple of tips on some things that you want to look out for to ensure that you
get the most beautiful oval diamond that you can get.
So oval diamonds are the hottest trending shape.
They're second only to rounds.
And one of the reasons that they have been most popular is the simple size.
I mean, the size that you get in an oval versus the size in a comparable round.
It's something that you can't really beat.
Ovals are great because they're modern day twist on your classic round diamond.
Yeah.
And there are going to be four variations that we're going to cover.
So two of them are going to be more quality issues.
And then two of them are going to be more choice options, if you will.
So we're going to cover the bow tie effect.
We're going to cover the length/width
ratio, what that is, and then we're also going to cover the different options that
are available in terms of how they may shine.
One of the common things that if you're looking at an oval that you're going to
come across, is this thing called bow tie effect.
A lot of people read about it and they try to figure out, okay, what is it?
Does a stone have it?
And a bow tie effect isn't necessarily...
I like to think of it more as a gradient.
It's not like a black and white thing in the sense that does it have it or not.
But usually...
some stones, you're going to have more of an obvious bow tie, some of them less so.
Some of them almost none.
And usually, this is seen as more of a negative thing for most people.
So what causes the bow tie is the fact that it's not circular,
because this is from the inside to the outside of the stone.
It's not the same all the way around.
It creates a different pattern in the way it's faceted.
And as a result, the light kind of ends up
reflecting in a little bit of a different way than you would with the round stone.
It can cause dark zones in the stone
itself, which exhibits as in that bow tie pattern.
So one of the things that you're
definitely going to want to look out for when you're choosing your oval, is you're
going to want to make sure that there isn't too much yellow in the stone.
Oval cut diamonds tend to be less
forgiving on colour than, let's say, a round brilliant.
You can have two diamonds: one is round, one is oval.
Let's say they're both the same colour.
They're both I in colour, for example.
So in the round diamond, there's a good large majority of the
population that won't really be able to see that yellowish tinge in an I colour, l
et's say in a round diamond that's well cut.
The oval, however, in the I it just tends to show off a little bit more.
And so a lot more people are able to kind of notice that yellowish tinge in it.
And because of that, we usually recommend staying with a really good H or higher,
usually as a minimum. And then from there, it's more kind of sensing for yourself,
exactly at what threshold do you not see it?
What are your colour preferences. Yeah.
Exactly. So one of the biggest preferences that are going to be available
to you in your oval is going to be what's referred to as a length to width ratio.
And let me just explain what that is first of all.
So all it is, is simply you just take your length and you divide it by the width, and
that number is going to be your length to width ratio.
For all the people out there that love numbers, I'm not one of them.
There is no perfect ratio.
I have to break it to you.
So what you really want to focus on is you want to compare different ovals on your
hand, and they're all going to have various length to width ratios.
So you'll have ones that are more tall and slender.
You'll have ones that are shorter and more plump.
You're going to want to make note of which one, which spread, you really like the
look of, but you're also going to want to make note how you like it on your finger.
So oval diamonds are not faceted all the same, okay.
So what that means is, round diamonds are
like the most standardised shape in the way that they're faceted, basically
95 percent, 99 percent of them are cut the same way, they have 57 facets.
Ovals, however, are not standardised.
And really, you might have one that has 25,000,
another has 56, there's no prescribed way that an oval diamond is cut.
And it should be noted that we're not going to come out and say, hey, this is
the best way to cut it, because they're faceted in different ways.
And what that will do is, it ends up they'll shine in different ways.
At the end of the day, there is no perfect way to cut the oval diamond.
And the takeaways that we want to leave you with is this:
for quality issues, look for a diamond
that has no bow tie or as little as possible.
With regards to colour, s tick with the higher.
We like to say minimum H or higher.
But more importantly, you want to see
them, side by side views so you can compare.
And then just be mindful of the options that are available to you.
So you can get them varying in the length,
the width, ratio. Figure out what kind of range that you're comfortable with.
And then just as importantly, it's very important, compare your options loose.
Ideally, that are faceted in different ways, and you can see how they they shine
differently, and to figure out what it is that you like.