Oval Cut Diamonds Guide: What Are They & Everything to Know (2024)

• What is an oval cut diamond?

• History of the oval diamond

• Why we love an oval diamond

• Pros and cons of an oval cut diamond

• How to choose an oval diamond - the 4Cs

• Oval cut versus round brilliant

• The most famous oval cut diamonds

What Is an Oval Cut Diamond?

As you might have guessed, oval cut diamonds are shaped like an oval with a brilliant cutting style, making them incredibly sparkly and blindingly bright. They're the perfect balance between the timeless, rounded edges of a round cut diamond and the elegant height of a marquise cut.

Oval diamonds have 58 facets, equal to a round diamond - the perfect number of facets for next-level sparkle in every light.

Characteristics of an Oval Diamond

Classified as a fancy-shaped diamond (like all diamonds except the round diamond), oval diamonds are brilliant cut diamonds that vary in shape from an ultra-thin almost-marquise shape, to a thicker, slightly squashed circle shape.

Best Settings for Oval Cut Diamonds

Truly, the best setting for any diamond is the one you love most. Our personal favorite settings for an oval cut diamond is a simple solitaire (like our cult-fave Stella setting) to really let your stone shine, or our bestselling half-halo Mirella setting - a stackable design that strikes the perfect balance between stone-centered minimalism and sparkle-laden maximalism.

If you love to stack (or plan on a very extra wedding band), consider leaving the band plain to allow for more options with detailed stacking rings in the future.

Choose a stackable ring (with a raised basket) if you'd like to stack straight bands, or a flush-to-the-finger setting if you're on team tiara band.

The Pros and Cons of an Oval Diamond

Pros of an oval cut diamond

Elongating

With their elongated shape, oval diamonds make fingers appear longer and slimmer - they're the flattering fit of the fine jewelry world.

Flip it to make a statement

While we love the chic look of an upright oval diamond, if you love to do things differently (you know we do), you might fall head over heels for an east-west set oval diamond. It's an unexpected and endlessly eye-catching design.

Durable

With rounded corners, oval diamonds are less prone to chipping and damage vs diamonds with sharp corners. Even though they're the hardest stone on earth, diamonds can still get damaged and if you're extremely active, it's worth factoring durability into your diamond purchase!

BIGGER FOR YOUR BUDGET

That lengthened shape makes an oval cut diamond look bigger than a round diamond of the same carat weight. Spend the same but get a bigger-looking diamond - who can say no to that?

Cons of an oval cut diamond

The bow-tie effect

Most oval diamonds have a bow-tie effect (a dark area in the center of the stone in the shape of a bow-tie). Your search for the most aesthetic oval cut diamond will include weeding out a lot of too obvious bow-ties - the subtler the better!

Keep in mind, a bow-tie can sometimes add to the sparkle and contrast of a stone depending on its size, position, and darkness - a Jeweler (and your own intuition) can help you decide!

so many chOICEs

This is both a pro and a con! The oval cut diamond has no set proportions other than being an oval shape, so there's countless variations to choose from - thin, thick, rounded, elongated - the options are endless.

If you love to shop and have no problem selecting, choice is a blessing. If you're indecisive, this selection might feel overwhelming. Whatever the case, we're here to help narrow your choices and choose the more stunning stone in your budget.

Oval Cut Diamond – Clarity

Clarity refers to the amount of inclusions or blemishes in a diamond. Thanks to the oval shape and brilliant cutting style, oval cut diamonds hide blemishes very well. That means you can opt for a lower clarity grade and still get an eye clean diamond. Now you're free to spend your budget on more important factors, like cut.

Something to keep in mind: blemishes towards the center of stone will be more obvious, whereas blemishes close to the edges will be better camouflaged.

The GIA clarity scale

• Flawless (FL) - No inclusions or blemishes can be seen with 10× magnification

• Internally Flawless (IF) - No inclusions (but some blemishes) can be seen with 10x magnification

• Very, Very Slightly Included (VVS1 and VVS2) - Inclusions are difficult to see under 10× magnification

• Very Slightly Included (VS1 and VS2) - Minor inclusions can be seen under 10x magnification

• Slightly Included (SI1 and SI2) - Noticeable inclusions under 10x magnification

• Included (I1, I2, and I3) - Obvious inclusions under 10× magnification

Oval Diamonds – Cut Quality

The most important C of all, cut is the best indicator of a diamond's sparkle, shine, and overall beauty.

Like all fancy cut diamonds, the GIA doesn't give oval diamonds an overarching cut grade like they do with round brilliants. All is not lost though - there are lots of other stats which help tell the story of a diamond's cut. Peruse our chart below for where to start with cut quality.

Depth percentage and table percentage:these numbers tell you how well a diamond reflects light.

Girdle:the slim perimeter of a diamond that separates the top from the bottom.

Cutlet:the tiny point at the bottom of a diamond.

Oval Diamonds – Color

Oval cut diamonds show color more than other diamond shapes so you'll want to opt for a higher color grade to a get a certain look - whether that be cool and colorless or sunny champagne. The larger the diamond, the more obvious color differences will be.

Having said that, the differences between two (or even three) color grades are often impossible to see with the naked eye, so focus on picking the diamond color that you love visually versus paying extra for a letter grade that's imperceptible.

While sizes vary depending on how a stone is cut, a one-carat round diamond usually measures 6.5 x 6.5 mm, whereas an average oval cut diamond is usually 7.7 x 5.7mm - the added height gives that larger illusion. So, if you'd like a diamond that looks bigger than its carat weight, consider an oval cut.

For help converting any diamond shape from carat weight to mm, read our blog!

How to choose an oval diamond: summary

1. Start with cut - choose the highest quality cut within your budget. Work with an expert Jeweler for and refer to our chart above for where to start.

2. Clarity - an oval diamond hides inclusions well so you can choose a lower clarity grade and still get an eye-clean diamond if that's what you're looking for. If you're a salt & pepper diamond fan, you can throw the clarity grades out the window and embrace the cosmic magic!

3. An oval cut shows a diamond's natural color more than a round diamond. Keep this in mind, but always choose the color you love first and worry about stats later.

4. For the most aesthetic oval diamond, stay in the range of 1.3 to 1.5 length to width ratio.