This cut is characterised by square corners with rows of step cut or step-like facets parallel to the table. A straight baguette is generally a relatively small elongated diamond that is rectangular in shape.
Baguettes today are most often employed as side stones in engagement rings, although they also can be the main shape in full-band rings or engagement ring designs that require a more subtle effect. When used as side stones they serve to camouflage the shoulders of the centre stone, masking it from the girdle to the culet. Baguettes can also be lined up to produce a continuous flow of diamonds on a ring, bracelet, brooch (i.e. circlet) or necklace.
The word baguette is the French word for a long, narrow loaf of bread or stick. This shape, beginning in costume jewellery, is a fashion outgrowth of the 1920s to mid-1930s. During that time, interest in functionalism in architecture and the Bauhaus movement influenced the applied arts and dominated contemporary design. In the Art Deco period, many stones were cut in strict, geometrical shapes, typified by the calibre technique or elongated baguette. In contemporary times, jewellery houses like ours have sustained their use and passion for the baguette. The yield for a baguette from the diamond rough is 38 to 42 percent.
Baguettes are extraordinarily clear. If baguettes are to be used as side stones in engagement rings or as other matched pairs, they must be of similar quality, colour and clarity to one another, and to the stone they are enhancing. The step-cut appearance is unforgiving and does not allow for little imperfections in the diamonds. We would usually recommend VS clarity and higher. SI clarity is possible, but we would examine the stone to ensure that the imperfection(s) are not eye-visible. A small chip is much more obvious on a baguette than on a heavily faceted diamond.
Baguette cut stones do not have to be rectangular. A tapered baguette cut has a trapezoid shape, where one of the smaller sides is shorter than the other. This cut is particularly useful to us for Art Deco inspired engagement rings as well as an interesting side stone in a (tapering) ring.
Choosing a baguette diamond for your engagement ring is a subtle choice of stone as it has less sparkle and fire than the more traditional brilliant or princess cut diamonds. It is not common to find larger baguette cut diamonds as larger diamonds tend to be cut into brilliant or princess cut shapes, however we can find them for our customers and they make an unusual and modern choice for a diamond solitaire.
