The Baguette Cut
Rectangular or oblong diamonds are usually called baguettes, from the French word "baguette". They are similar to emerald cuts, but without the mitred corners which make them octagonal rather than oblong.
Diamond Pricing
Because they don't look as good as brilliant cuts, baguette cuts normally sell for less than a brilliant cut of the same quality. Some people wrongly believe that baguette cuts are more expensive than round brilliants, and there are some jewellers who will allow them to continue thinking this, especially if they are selling the person a baguette shaped diamond! The reason that low priced large baguettes are only infrequently seen, is that "off" colours and inclusions show up more noticeably in baguettes than in brilliant cuts. Another way of explaining this is to consider that a perfect D flawless baguette might only look 20 to 30% less attractive than a similar quality brilliant cut, but a J colour, P2 (I2) baguette cut might look 70 to 80% worse than a similar brilliant cut.
Trap or Step Cut
Rectangular shaped stones are usually cut in steps, and are known as step or trap cut. The baguette cut is an oblong or rectangular step or trap cut. This was a simple cut used by the earliest jewellers for many gemstones including emeralds and diamonds, because it is relatively easy to cut, especially with the limited tools and technology available until recently. Better, more brilliant cuts were only discovered in the second quarter of the twentieth century.
It is our strongly held opinion that more modern cuts such as princess, and more particularly radiant cuts produce far more attractive diamonds than older cuts such as the step cut, and therefore the baguette cut.
You can see from our second photograph that the baguette diamond looks very dark, and also rather glassy and dull. The dark areas are where there is little light being reflected or refracted through the stone. In fact the stone shown is quite a good quality one, laboratory graded and certified as H colour and VS clarity, so it should help to persuade lovers of baguette cuts that there are better choices.
