Oval cut
An elongated round diamond, cut with brilliant-style facets.
How to read it
GIA describes the oval brilliant as the fire and brilliance of a round diamond in an elongated outline, which makes the stone look larger for its weight. Gems & Gemology notes that ovals vary in outline as well as length: long, narrow ovals close to a marquise are called “movals” in the trade, and squat, nearly round ones “rovals”.
Also searched as: oval brilliant, oval cut diamond, oval diamond.
Grades describe a stone as a grading laboratory saw it. This page explains the grading scales; it doesn’t grade or value any stone.
The bow tie
Like the pear and marquise, an oval can show a dark bow-tie pattern across its middle. Gems & Gemology found that buyers and cutters disagree about how much of one is acceptable.
“Oval brilliant” in the US
The FTC’s jewelry guides keep the plain words brilliant and full cut for a round diamond with at least 32 facets plus the table above the girdle and at least 24 below. An oval diamond with the same facets may be called brilliant only when its shape is named with the word, as in “oval brilliant”.
Read next
- Next in Diamond gradingPear cutA teardrop-shaped diamond: rounded at one end, pointed at the other.
- The same shape in African flagsFlag of EthiopiaEthiopia’s flag is green, yellow and red in equal horizontal stripes with a blue disc in the centre holding a yellow star of equal lines with yellow rays. Ethiopia’s Flag Proclamation makes the green labour, fertility and development, the yellow hope, justice and equality, and the red sacrifice and heroism for freedom and equality; the blue disc is peace and the star the unity of Ethiopia’s nations, nationalities and peoples.
More diamond grading
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with circles or lines.
Sources
- Guide to Diamond Engagement Ring Shapes (GIA 4Cs), Gemological Institute of America
- Observations of Oval-, Pear-, and Marquise-Shaped Diamonds (Gems & Gemology, Fall 2024), Gems & Gemology, Fall 2024, Gemological Institute of America
- Guides for the Jewelry, Precious Metals, and Pewter Industries (16 CFR Part 23), 16 CFR Part 23 (1 January 2021 edition), Federal Trade Commission, published by the U.S. Government Publishing Office, § 23.17 and note
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
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