The pear shape is one of my personal favorite shapes. The technical name for this shape is the pear shaped modified brilliant cut. It can be referred to as a tear drop, pendeloque shape or pear. The pear is a combination of a round brilliant and a marquise brilliant cut and usually has the 58 facet brilliant pattern. Although, it can have more facets cut into the pavilion (bottom).
In the shape, marquise, we touched on the “bow-tie” effect. In any shaped diamond that the width of the stone is narrower than the length you may see this effect: Marquise, Oval or Pear. The cutter needs to diminish this “bow-tie” to make the brilliance of the stone come through. This is the case with the pear shape; it needs to have an excellent cut in order to diminish any “bow-tie” effect. It also needs that V-shaped protection on the point of the stone.
You get the wonderful brilliance (remember from my other articles, the small headlight comment?) and the intense fire of a round brilliant, in a unique shape that will have people grabbing your hand and saying WoW! Let me see your engagement ring! No matter what carat weight you purchase! This is a truly unique cut you won’t see all over the place. You can make this shape into your engagement ring and add diamonds down the shank, maybe even a split shank making the look balanced. Don’t forget about the gallery of the ring, it’s the part of the ring you see when you make a fist or have your hand down; round brilliant stones would do nicely.
There is a lore with the pear shape that if you wear the point out it sends out your energy. Point in and you receive energy. Try it either way, but pointing towards the fingernail gives a slimming effect. Remember there is no right or wrong, look at it on your hand, and wear it the way you want to see it.
Some of the world’s largest and most famous diamonds are cut in this shape. A few examples are the famous DeBeers Millennium Star, a flawless, pear-shaped diamond weighing 203 carats; the 69 carat pear that Burton gave to Taylor. The famous Cora Sun-Drop diamond is the largest known yellow pear shaped diamond weighing 110.3 carats. My small Fancy Light Yellow pear pales in comparison, but I still love it! The cool part (history of a stone is called provenance) is it was cut by the same cutter, Gabi Tolkowsky, that cut the Centenary Diamond, it was set by Distinctive Gold. So, you may ask what direction is my pear facing….sideways!