Find Your Perfect Diamond
Made to sit flush against the engagement ring it was designed for.
Every ring is made from start to finish in our Los Angeles atelier.
The brilliance of a round stretched into an outline that flatters the hand. The oval faces up larger than a round of the same weight, elongates the finger, and rewards buyers who know exactly one thing to check before they fall in love: the bow-tie.
The modern oval is a brilliant cut, built on the same facet logic as the round, arranged inside an elongated outline. It keeps most of the round's fire and scintillation while spreading its weight across a longer silhouette, which is why an oval consistently looks larger than a round of identical carat weight.
Unlike the round, no laboratory issues a cut grade for ovals. The certificate will tell you polish, symmetry, and measurements, and then leave the most important judgment, how the stone actually handles light, entirely to your eye. That is not a flaw in the shape. It is the reason an oval must be seen in motion, on video or in person, before any decision is made.
The single trait that separates a beautiful oval from a mediocre one is the bow-tie: a dark band that can appear across the center of any elongated brilliant. Every oval has some. The question is whether it whispers or shouts, and no line on the certificate will tell you which.
| Facets | Typically 57 to 58, brilliant style |
| Cut grading | No formal lab cut grade, evaluate by eye |
| Face-up size | Larger than a round of equal weight |
| Length to width | 1.30 to 1.50 is the classic range |
| Relative price | Meaningfully below round per carat |
| Watch for | The bow-tie across the center |
The oval spreads its carats. Its elongated outline carries more visible surface than a round of the same weight, and on the finger the effect compounds: the lengthwise orientation draws the eye along the hand. This is the shape buyers choose when presence per carat is the priority.
| Carat Weight | Typical Measurements | How It Wears |
|---|---|---|
| 0.75 ct | 7.0 x 5.0 mm | Graceful and slender, lovely in a thin band |
| 1.00 ct | 7.7 x 5.7 mm | Reads close to a 1.25 ct round on the hand |
| 1.50 ct | 8.9 x 6.5 mm | A confident, elongating presence |
| 2.00 ct | 9.8 x 7.2 mm | Serious spread, still elegant in profile |
| 3.00 ct | 11.2 x 8.2 mm | Commanding length across the finger |
Measurements are typical for well proportioned stones. Individual diamonds vary with their cutting.
With no lab cut grade to lean on, the certificate is a starting point for an oval, not a verdict. Here is where your attention belongs.
An oval must be judged in motion. Insist on high resolution video of the exact stone, and watch the center as it moves: a faint, shifting shadow is normal, a persistent dark band is the bow-tie you will see forever.
Length to width between 1.30 and 1.50 reads as a classic oval. Below that the stone drifts toward a rounded look, above it toward slim and dramatic. Check that the outline curves evenly with no bulged or flat shoulders.
The oval's brilliant faceting hides inclusions well, so VS2 and even SI1 stones are often eye clean. Its larger table shows body color slightly more than a round, so many buyers hold color at G or better while relaxing clarity.
Every stone we recommend is scored by ROSI™, our gemological intelligence, built by our gemologists, and verified by a human eye before it reaches you. Request a ROSI™ Score Report on any diamond you are considering, ours or anyone else’s.
Found an oval you are considering, here or anywhere else? Send the GIA or IGI certificate number and our gemological team returns its ROSI™ Score and a read of where it sits in the current market. Complimentary, within minutes.
Score a DiamondWhere stones of the same exact specifications are trading on the open market right now. You get a straight answer, even when the diamond is not ours.
The oval is versatile in a way few elongated shapes are: it works everywhere from a whisper-thin solitaire to a full pavé halo. These three directions cover most of what our clients choose, each made to order around your exact stone.
A delicate band exaggerates the oval's spread and lets its length do the talking. The most requested oval setting in our atelier, and the look that made the shape famous.
A ring of pavé diamonds tucked beneath the stone, invisible face-on, glittering in profile. Presence without changing the clean oval silhouette.
The oval set sideways across the finger. Unexpected, modern, and a quiet signal that the wearer chose deliberately rather than by default.
The oval gives you more size for your money than a round. In exchange, it asks you to check one thing the certificate will never show you.
Every oval carries some bow-tie effect, and the certificate is silent about it. A stone can grade beautifully on paper and still wear a dark stripe across its center in real light. That is the trade for the oval's genuine advantages: bigger face-up size, a lower price per carat than round, and an outline that elongates the finger. Buy an oval from video or in person, never from specifications alone, and it will repay you every day. If you want a shape the paperwork can fully vouch for, the round brilliant remains the safer instrument, and we will tell you so.
We are a Los Angeles fine jewelry atelier with family roots in the diamond trade going back to 1967. That history buys you four things you will not find together anywhere else.
Send us the certificate of a stone we do not sell and we will still score it. No other jeweler will grade a competitor’s diamond for you and tell you if it is the better buy.
Every ROSI™ report shows where stones of identical specifications are trading right now, drawn from live market data. You see the range before you see our price.
Every score is verified by our gemological team before it reaches you, and John Anderson, our Lead Gemologist, is one phone call away for the questions a report cannot answer.
Every setting leaves our Los Angeles atelier built around your exact diamond, at one confident price, with 40 day returns and 60 day complimentary resizing behind it.
John Anderson, our Lead Gemologist, reviews ovals with clients every day. Send him the certificate of any stone you are considering and he will tell you what the paper says and what it leaves out. The consultation is complimentary and there is no obligation.
1-800-779-1726