There are whispers in jewelry circles that the round brilliant diamond is losing its appeal. “It’s very difficult to make any money out of round brilliant cuts,” admits Jeremy Morris of luxury jeweler David Morris. As the brand leans toward using more fancies, one of Morris’s chosen shapes for his high jewelry is the baguette.
The baguette diamond’s long, lean silhouette has been finding favor in modern and architectural design — for instance, in Harry Winston’s New York collection, with its diamond baguette drop earrings and pendants resembling the city’s brownstone buildings. The cut also feeds into the perennial trend of Art Deco.
From accent to main attraction
It was Cartier that introduced the modern baguette cut in 1912, although paintings have featured the shape in jewelry since the mid-16th century. During the Art Deco period, designers used baguettes to emphasize clean lines and geometric shapes, and to cover larger surface areas. The baguette has traditionally served as an accent for other cuts, and often frames center stones such as watermelon tourmaline in rings, or green and pink diamonds in one necklace from Le Vian’s high-jewelry line. The cut’s geometry can make a strong contrast to the curves of a pear or oval.
Tanaz Shayan, cofounder of Los Angeles-based brand Shay, is one of many jewelers who have fallen under baguettes’ spell. “We gravitate toward geometric cuts like the emerald and baguette because they embody a timeless elegance and sophistication that resonates with Shay’s aesthetic,” she says. “The clean lines and unique shapes allow for incredible versatility in design.”
She prefers setting baguette and emerald cuts in an east-west position, as this unexpected orientation adds a contemporary zing, and the elongated shapes create a striking visual effect.
Fellow Los Angeles jeweler Grace Lee shares Shayan’s view. “Baguettes, emerald and Asscher cuts, and even carré cuts with linear faceting, are some of our clients’ favorite and most requested cuts,” she says. “The linear faceting gives baguette diamonds a cleaner, almost transparent modern look.”
These stones pair well with brilliants for eternity rings and ring stacks, she adds. “In fact, it pairs well with almost any ring.”
Playing hard to get?
Baguettes’ length-to-width ratio usually ranges from 2:1 to 3:1, which “allows the baguette to maintain its distinct shape while maximizing its sparkle,” says Shayan.
Lee’s clients tend to favor elongated versions, “but diamond wholesalers don’t always stock baguette diamonds,” she reports — and recently, “as elongated baguettes have become more difficult to source, they have gone up in price.”
Sig Ward, another southern-California jeweler, has found this to be the case as well. “Sometimes supply and demand dictate what you may find,” she says. “Other times, you may have to custom-cut baguettes to fit in a particular project, and that’s where it gets uber-costly.”
Ward positions baguettes on huggies and her Snake bangle, as well as on her Bia ring to frame a colored octagonal center stone. She mainly uses them “to elevate the look of a design; they are a lot more glamorous and sparkly.” Setting them in a curved profile requires “a special consideration,” she adds, “but it’s possible.”
In New York, Halleh Amiralai sets baguettes in east-west and north-south orientations for the ear cuffs in her Halleh Fine Jewelry collection. Anita Ko in Los Angeles, meanwhile, makes the most of the cut’s clean lines by placing the stones end-to-end on bracelets, or setting them shoulder-to-shoulder like soldiers on necklaces and huggies.
At fellow Angeleno brand and industry newcomer LÖF Jewellery, founder Morgan Mackintosh features baguette diamonds in triangular step pyramid-shaped ear studs and linear designs. Manhattan-based Shahla Karimi makes them a statement stone on gold bangles, cigar-band rings, and pendulum earrings. Both these jewelers use lab-grown and ethically sourced natural diamonds.
In praise of Suzanne Kalan
The baguette queen is Suzanne Kalan, who has built a huge fan base nationally and internationally for her signature off-set designs in this cut. Among her fans is retailer Material Good, a New York-based company that has bought strongly into the baguette story. The designs it carries from Kalan, Shay and Anita Ko speak to a breadth of clientele — “whether they are a bit older and looking for something traditional that isn’t too ‘flashy,’ but still want that beautiful diamond tennis necklace that sparkles, or if they are on the other end of the spectrum [and] want something more modern and edgy,” explains Teresa Panico, the retailer’s marketing and fine-jewelry director.
In Kalan’s pieces, “the modern look created by using these long, linear baguettes is so appealing and flattering,” Panico remarks, and “the ability to keep layering on top of what you already have” keeps customers coming back for more.
Main image: A selection of Suzanne Kalan jewelry starring baguette-cut diamonds. (Suzanne Kalan)
