When searching for that perfect center stone, you may not hear a lot about baguette diamonds. However, baguette-cut diamonds have a long history as accent stones that allow center stones to shine even more brilliantly. Once you know what a baguette diamond is and what to look for in baguette-cut diamonds, the options are endless for creating your perfect look.
Why Are They Named “Baguette” Diamonds?
When you consider the word "baguette," the first thing that comes to mind is a rectangular-shaped French bread. Despite what you might have assumed, baguette diamonds are not named after the famous french bread. In fact, both names derive from the fact that "baguette" means "stick" in french.
History Of Baguette Diamonds
During the Art Deco and Art Nouveau periods between the 1920s and 1930s, the baguette diamond cut was created. Over time, baguette diamonds grew in popularity, and jewelry makers started using the baguette cut as the focal point of all kinds of jewelry, including rings, pendants, bracelets, and more. This popularity grew following the Art Deco movement, as society started to move away from more traditionally cut stones. People at the time were drawn to the cut because of its uniqueness.
Even today, baguette cuts are used in a variety of different types of jewelry and can be found in almost any jewelry store around the world. Long baguettes are very elegant, but much more difficult to find than smaller, shorter baguettes. If you are on the hunt for an extraordinary baguette diamond, be sure to engage a qualified jeweler who has the best sources!
Characteristics of Baguette Diamonds
Traditionally, baguette-cut diamonds are long rectangular stones, though they can also be square or tapered. Due to the long tapered cuts, they fall into the category of diamond cuts called step cuts. Rather than having 57 facets like brilliant-cut diamonds, baguette diamonds have only 14. Between the number of facets and their shapes, baguettes do not have internal brilliance. Rather, when they are set in a series, side-by-side, the series of baguettes produces something similar to brilliance as the light bounces off of the top surface of each successive baguette. Keeping baguette diamonds clean is of the utmost importance, since they do not possess internal brilliance.
How To Find The Perfect Baguette Diamond
If you do choose to use a baguette diamond for your next piece of jewelry, there are a few things to keep in mind in order to find the perfect diamond:
Color Match
Because of the difference in facets, to get a good color match between your main stone and baguette stones, your jeweler should do a layout of all the diamonds, in order to ensure a match between all the baguettes, and also to the main diamond.
Clarity
When it comes to baguette diamonds, clarity is more crucial than it is for other stones. Due to a baguette diamond's step-cut, imperfections can easily be seen with the naked eye. As a result, you will need a baguette diamond that has a clarity grade that is one or two clarity grades higher than a standard round diamond to ensure that there are no visible imperfections.
Setting
Due to the shape of baguette diamonds, they are more at risk of chipping or other damage. The setting you choose can go a long way towards preventing damage and holding the stone securely when there is damage to prevent loss of the stone.
Baguette diamonds are versatile and beautiful. Whether in a three-stone ring, channel set, eternity band, or as part of a beautiful vintage setting, baguette diamonds are as classic and unique as they are and modern and beautiful.
And because Alara is always on the lookout for the new, the innovative, and the cool...we actually have a few pieces in stock that feature lovely baguette diamonds that are drilled and suspended, to produce sparkle like the finest crystal chandelier...
At Alara Jewelry, our focus is on educating, informing, and assisting our customers. We'd love to help you with any questions you may have in your search for the right baguette diamond ring for you.
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