What Is a Pear Shaped Diamond? The Complete Guide

The easiest way to picture a pear is as a hybrid of two shapes you already know. The wide end is a round brilliant: a smooth, full curve. From there the two sides taper inward, the way a marquise does, until they meet at a single point. That is why a pear shaped diamond is also called a teardrop. One end is round, one end is sharp, and a continuous curve connects them.

Inside that outline, a pear is faceted as a brilliant cut. That means it is arranged for return of light and fire, typically with around 58 facets, the same faceting family as a round brilliant. So it sparkles rather than flashing the broad, mirror-like steps of an emerald or Asscher cut. Two features do all the work of making a pear look right: the point must be centered on the long axis, and the curves on either side must be even. Get those two things wrong and the stone looks lopsided; get them right and it looks like the classic teardrop most people have in mind when they picture a pear shaped diamond.

Like every elongated brilliant, the oval and the marquise included, a pear can show a bow-tie. It's a darker, bow-shaped shadow that runs across the middle of the stone, widest at the belly. It happens when the facets in the center are angled so that they return less light to your eye, so instead of sparkle you see a shadow shaped like a bow tie. This is a normal trait of the shape, not a defect in the diamond itself.

Every pear has some degree of it. The question is how much. A faint bow-tie is common and often disappears the moment the stone moves in the light. A heavy, static, black bow-tie is a cutting fault worth avoiding, because it sits there as a dead spot no matter how you turn the ring. The catch for buyers is that a bow-tie is a light-behavior trait, not a measurement, so it doesn't appear on the grading report. You judge it by looking at the actual stone, or a good video of it, face up under normal light. Our guide to the bow-tie effect and pointed-tip durability walks through what to look for.

A pear is symmetrical along only one axis, its length. Draw a line from the tip of the point to the center of the rounded end, and the two halves should mirror each other cleanly. That single line is the thing to check. When the point sits even slightly off-center, the whole stone looks crooked in a way that is hard to unsee, so symmetry matters more on a pear than it does on a fully symmetrical shape like a round.

Two parts of the outline carry most of that visual weight. The shoulders are the rounded curves at the wide end, and they should be gently rounded and even, not squared off (which makes the stone look stubby) and not collapsed inward (which makes it look pinched and narrow). The wings are the longer curves that sweep down to the point, and they should curve smoothly, not bulge out and not run too straight, which flattens the taper. Even shoulders, even wings, and a centered point are what a well-cut pear looks like.

As for direction, convention wears a pear with the point aimed down the finger, toward the fingertips. Worn that way it draws the eye along the length of the hand and makes the finger look longer and slimmer. This is taste, not a rule: some people prefer the point toward the wrist, and either is correct. What matters more is that the point sits straight and centered on the finger, so pick a setting that holds it in line.

The proportion that decides whether a pear reads slender or full is its length-to-width ratio. Take the length and the width in millimeters from the report and divide the length by the width. For a pear, most people land between 1.45 and 1.75. Around 1.50 to 1.55 gives the classic, balanced teardrop most people picture. Push toward 1.70 and above and the stone reads longer and more slender; drop toward 1.45 and it reads rounder and fuller.

None of those is the "correct" ratio. It's a matter of taste and how you want the stone to sit on the hand, so look at the actual outline rather than chasing a single number. As a worked example, a pear measuring 9.00 by 5.50 mm has a ratio of about 1.64, which is a middle-of-the-road, classic teardrop. The full diamond shapes guide sets every common outline side by side if you want to compare the pear against its neighbors.

Because a pear spreads its weight over a longer outline than a round, it tends to look larger on the finger than a round of the same carat weight, and it lengthens the line of the hand. That extra face-up length is a property of the shape, not a discount or a trick: you are getting visible length from the geometry itself. It's one of the main reasons elongated cuts appeal to buyers who want presence on the hand.

If size on the finger is a priority, it helps to compare the elongated shapes directly rather than by carat weight alone, because two stones of the same weight can look quite different face up. Our guide to which diamond shape looks biggest puts the pear next to the oval, the marquise, and the round so you can see how the spread compares.

The pear's point is its signature, and it's also its weak spot. A diamond is the hardest known material (it sits at 10 on the Mohs scale), but hardness is resistance to scratching, not to a sharp knock. A point concentrates force into a small area, so a hard bump at the wrong angle can chip it. This is worth understanding before you set the stone, not after.

The fix is in the setting, not in the diamond. The point should be shielded, most often with a V-shaped prong (sometimes called a chevron or V-tip) that cups the tip from both sides, or with a bezel or partial bezel that wraps metal around the end. When you look at a pear in a ring, check that the point is actually held and protected, not left exposed at the end of the band. For the wider decision, our guide to how to choose an engagement ring setting covers how prong, bezel, and halo styles change the look and the protection. We hand-set every stone in NYC, so we can talk through exactly how the point will be held on any pear we set.

The pear sits between two close relatives. All three are elongated brilliants that face up long for their weight, and all three can show a bow-tie. The difference is in the ends. A pear has one point and one round; a true marquise has a point at both ends; an oval has no points at all.

If you're weighing shapes generally, our guide to diamond cut vs diamond shape explains why the two words get mixed up, which matters here because "pear cut" and "pear shape" describe the same stone.

A pear is straightforward to verify, because the shape is listed plainly on the grading report. Here's what to check.

Confirm the shape and the numbers

If it's a Lab Grown Diamond

The rule holds across every shape: the report is the fact, and the shape name is just the label on top of it.

A pear tends to suit someone who wants a shape with more character than a round but softer lines than a marquise. It has the length and drama of an elongated cut, but the rounded end keeps it warm and classic rather than sharply geometric. Because it faces up long for its weight, it appeals to a buyer who wants visible size on the finger, and because it lengthens the hand, it flatters most fingers. The one point to plan for is exactly that, the point: it wants a setting that protects the tip. If a round feels expected and a marquise feels severe, pear shaped diamonds are the middle path a lot of people are actually looking for. This is a piece meant to be worn and loved, so choose the ratio and the setting you'll want to see on the hand for years.

Stienhardt is a New York City jeweler that sources Lab Grown Diamonds and hand-sets and finishes them in NYC, selling direct, by appointment. That means we own and inspect every stone we sell, and we hand you its independent grading report rather than just drop-ship it. For a pear specifically, that matters twice over: we can show you the bow-tie in person before you commit, and we set the point ourselves, so we can protect that tip properly instead of leaving it exposed.

Our advice stays the same even about our own work: look at the actual stone, read the graded report behind it, and choose the ratio and setting that suit the hand it's going on. A shape name is a label. The report is the fact, and the stone in front of you is the decision.

If you would rather judge a stone in person, we show by appointment in New York. Book a viewing.