Choosing a Diamond Necklace That Suits You

Immortalized in fashion and popular culture, diamonds really are a girl’s best friend. It’s important to remember the goal here is not to attempt to make your features look different, but to find a piece that complements your natural looks. While oval might be widely considered as the beauty standard, in reality every face has elements of softness or angularity that makes them beautiful and unique, and whether it’s a sparkling diamond tennis necklace, a delicate station chain or a beautiful pendant, there’s a style to suit every shape. 

Oval 

(Beyonce Knowles, Bella Hadid; Jessica Alba)

Just as with haircuts, those with an oval face-shape can wear any number of different styles of diamond necklace, though (as with all the other facial types), it can help to take into account body shape for maximum suitability. The best picks for oval shaped faces tend to be similarly shaped oval or teardrop pendants, but geometric shapes can also provide contrast to any softness in your features.

Round 

(Christina Ricci, Drew Barrymore; Carey Mulligan)

V and Y-shaped necklaces (ideally with a longer-length chain of around 26”-36” are best for this facial shape, as they help to elongate the appearance of the face. A matinee style diamond necklace would work well for someone with rounder features – or a longer chain with a pendant – try wearing something geometric and angular to balance out the softness in your face.

Rectangular 

(Angelina Jolie, Sarah Jessica Parker; Sandra Oh)

For regular or oblong face shapes, the opposite applies: here the necklace is best kept to a shorter length (12” to 16”), either a collar or choker style or if you want to go a little longer, a rounded tennis style necklace (a circular necklace with diamonds set all the way around).

Square 

(Jennifer Aniston, Zendaya Coleman; Sandra Bullock)

A necklace with curves and length (matinee, opera and rope length are all good choices) can help to soften the more angular features of square faces. Circular diamond settings also compliment this face shape perfectly. 

Heart 

(Reese Witherspoon, Lupita Nyong’o; Katie Holmes)

Heart-shaped faces tend to have narrower jawlines, so to balance this out, opt for a shorter choker style to add the illusion of width at chin-level. Avoid V-shaped designs, as these will over-emphasise a pointed chin. Horizontal elements, such as diamond bar necklaces work well to offset the jawline of heart-shaped faces and create balance.

Pear  

(Kelly Osbourne, Minnie Driver; Sophie Ellis-Bextor)

Rather than narrowness at the jaw, pear-shaped faces have width here and narrowness at the hairline. Here, a necklace designed to add width at cheekbone-level and soften the jawline would work well, such as a long pendant necklace.

If you’re unsure which category you fall into, or if you simply want a classic design that suits all face shapes, a diamond solitaire pendant is a great, understated all-rounder that works equally well with both formal and casual outfits.

Facial features tend to fall into one of four categories: round, oval, rectangular, square, heart shape or diamond (a more angular version of the oval face). You can measure your face from hairline to chin, then across your forehead, cheekbones and jaw to find your own shape, although it’s possible you may also be somewhere in between. Here are the best diamond necklaces according to face shape:

Choosing a Necklace By Body Shape

Considering body and face types together can help you choose the most effective style.Body typology can be a little trickier to gauge: in the past we’ve been used to using fruit to compare our body shapes to (apples, pears), but in more recent times, there’s been a revival of the Kibbe method, which looks at the balance of yin and yang (typically feminine and masculine) physical characteristics. 

These are a little more nuanced than the basic facial types: the basic categories are romantic, dramatic, classic, natural and gamine, although these can be split into subcategories of flamboyant (energetic; free spirited), soft (romantic) or theatrical (bold and striking). While there are guides and quizzes that go into greater detail about this, as a general rule more “yin” features tend to include roundness and softness, while “yang” features tend to include tallness, angularity and sharper bone structure. 

The goal with jewelry is to balance out angularity and curve in the body: roundness in jewelry would be characterized by circular motifs or round styles (such as princess style necklaces), while more “yang” elements would be characterized by sharper motifs such as geometric gems and V-shaped chains.