Marquise Shape

The marquise shape is an elongated boat shaped brilliant cut with curving sides and pointed ends. It was developed in France in the 1740's. It was supposedly named after King Louis XIV desired a stone to be polished into the shape of the mouth of the Marquise de Pompadour. This shape is also sometimes named Navette. Proportions vary, but a typical ration is 1.85 :1 to 2:1. The shape is something which is of personal taste with some people prefering a more narrow stone and vice versa.