Baguette Fancy Cut Diamond
Astraight baguette is a relatively small, elongated diamond that usually is
rectangular in shape. The cut is characterized by square corners with rows of
step-cut or steplike facets parallel to the table. Baguettes do not conform to
the Federal Trade Commission's" 17 -facet" requirement for diamonds.
The name of the cut must proceed the word diamond. Baguettes today are most often employed as side stones, although they also can
be the main shape in full-band rings or fashion rings. When used as side stones
they serve to camouflage the shoulders of the center stone, masking it £rom 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.
Baguettes are usually channel-set, but sometimes prong set. Less-expensive
baguettes are often channel-set into bracelets. Measured in millimeters more
often than weight because their size must be precise for their function, typical
sizes for today's side baguettes are from 1.5 mm to 3 mm in length. For larger,
more important pieces, designers and retailers may order straight baguettes of
2.7 mm to 4.7 mm, for example.
The word "baguette" is a French word for a long, narrow loaf of
bread. This shape, beginning in costume jewelry, 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, jewelry houses like Bulgari have sustained their use and passion for the
baguette. Nicola Bulgari once exclaimed, "We flirt with the baguette."
The yield for a baguette is 38 to 42 percent.
MARKETS AND MARKETING
Fancy-shape diamond dealers and manufacturers market their baguettes as part
of their overall shape inventory. They are sold to wholesale manufacturers,
designers and retailers. Today's designers are using baguettes in unusual ways,
harking back to the Art Deco or Art Nouveau periods in some of their geometric
or more fluid designs.
PRICING AND SUPPLY
Smaller-size baguettes 3 mm in length or less sell for $600, while larger
sizes ranging in length from 3 to 4 mm sell for $750. Baguettes that are 4 mm
long, or more, can go for $900 and more. There is no supply problem for baguette
rough or polished baguettes.
WHAT BUYERS SHOULD LOOK FOR
Baguettes are extraordinarily clear. If baguettes are to be used as side
stones or as other matched pairs, they must be of similar quality, color 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. A small chip is much more obvious on a baguette than on a heavily
faceted diamond.