December is the most popular month of the year to propose, and Christmas Day tops the list of favourite dates. Family’s in town and a ring box fits neatly inside a stocking. If you’re planning to pop the question this season, the marquise diamond deserves a serious look.
A shape with a romantic backstory
The marquise is long and slim, with a point at each end. Its other name, navette, is French for “little boat”, and that’s exactly the outline you’ll see from above. Legend has it that King Louis XV of France asked for a diamond shaped like the lips of the Marquise de Pompadour, and the name stuck. Historians treat it as trade folklore rather than documented fact. It’s still a lovely story to have up your sleeve when you’re down on one knee.
Choosing a sustainable marquise engagement ring
More couples now start their ring search with lab-grown diamonds, and the appeal is easy to follow. A lab-grown diamond has essentially the same chemical and optical properties as a mined one, including a hardness of 10 on the Mohs scale. Most are grown in a matter of weeks instead of forming underground over billions of years, so your stone needs no new mine. Cullen takes it a step further by offsetting the carbon footprint of its gemstones and planting a tree for every ring sold.
The setting shapes a marquise’s personality more than most people expect. To see the difference for yourself, browse Cullen Jewellery’s lab-grown marquise collection and compare a sleek solitaire with a hidden halo design. A solitaire keeps the silhouette crisp and modern. A hidden halo tucks a ring of small diamonds just beneath the centre stone, so there’s a flash of sparkle from the side while the top view stays clean.
What to check before you buy
The length-to-width ratio
Most marquise diamonds are cut somewhere between 1.75:1 and 2.25:1, with 2:1 often seen as the classic balance. At the lower end, the stone looks fuller and softer. At the top end, it’s dramatic and slender. The right number is simply the one your partner loves looking at.
The bow-tie
Most marquise diamonds show a slightly darker band across the middle, known as a bow-tie. A faint one adds contrast and depth. For the brightest result, ask for a video of the actual stone under moving light so you can see exactly how it performs.
Protection for the points
Those two tips are the most delicate part of the diamond. V-shaped prongs (also called chevron prongs) cup each point, and a six-prong set-up with four more claws along the sides keeps the stone secure through years of everyday wear.
More presence per carat
Here’s where the marquise quietly outshines other shapes. A 1-carat round brilliant measures about 6.5mm across, while a 1-carat marquise stretches to roughly 10mm by 5mm. Same weight, far more coverage on the finger. It also runs lengthwise along the hand, which gives fingers a longer, more elegant line. When you’re balancing a ring budget against holiday spending, that extra visual size is genuine value.
Timing your Arizona holiday proposal
Lock in the ring first, and do it soon. Cullen’s cut-off for US delivery by 24 December is 4 November, and a fully custom design needs longer, with the crafting stage alone taking 8 to 10 weeks. Resizing is free, so a best-guess ring size won’t derail the plan. Then choose your backdrop. Sedona’s red rocks glow at sunset, and the Desert Botanical Garden’s Las Noches de las Luminarias lights its trails with more than 8,000 hand-lit luminarias on select nights from late November into early January. It skips Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so book an evening between 16 and 23 December and you’ll have the ring on her finger before the family arrives.
