As Wedding Know How editors, we write about things that we love and we think you'll like too. We have affiliate partnerships and sponsorship and may generate some revenue from these at no cost to you.
The pear-shaped diamond has existed for centuries, making it one of the oldest diamond cuts. While it’s fluctuated in popularity over the centuries, the pear shape remains a classic diamond cut that’s seen a major revival in recent years.
Here’s everything you need to know about the pear cut and whether it’s the right choice for your diamond engagement ring.
Famous Pear Cut Engagement Rings
Close up of Victoria Beckham’s pear cut engagement ring.
Yes, the round cut is the most popular diamond shape, but the pear cut offers a delightfully unique, stylish look that stands out with its distinctive flair. Pear cut engagement rings have graced the fingers of high-profile celebrities from Mia Farrow’s iconic engagement ring given to her by Frank Sinatra to modern day stars including Victoria Beckham, Jessica Simpson and Katherine Heigl.
Best Styles and Settings for the Pear Cut
The pear cut diamond is one thing but mounting it in an amazing setting that’ll accentuate its shape and bring out its sparkle takes the stone to another level. Here are some of the best settings and styles for the pear cut:
1- Bezel Setting for Pear Cut
Bottom line: Maximum security, reduced brilliance and size
Bezel setting with tiara.
The bezel setting is perfect for pear cuts because it offers excellent protection, especially for the pear shape’s tip. A bezel features the metal surrounding the entire diamond, making it secure, easy to clean and giving it a minimalist, fashion-forward look.
The downsides with bezel settings is that they can tend to hide a lot of the diamond, and because you only see the face up view of the stone, it can appear smaller than it is. However, bezels do show the curves of pear cuts and emphasizes its shape. Pick a stylized bezel or one with other embellishments (like the ring featured above) to give it more glamor and sparkle.
2- Halo Setting for Pear Cut
Bottom line: Increased brilliance, accentuated shape and excellent security
Halo set pear cut diamond.
The halo is one of our favorite choices for the pear cut because it’s comparable to the bezel in terms of protecting the diamond but adds an extra layer of brilliance to the stone as well as glamor and sophistication. Because the halo makes the pear appear larger, you can choose a smaller sized stone and still have a ring that looks amazing.
Keeping a halo setting can be tricky, however, as cleaning between the grooves and spaces of the tiny diamonds can be annoying. What’s more, there’s always the chance of losing or knocking out the individual diamonds in the halo. It’s easy to replace these but it’s something to consider.
3- Prong Setting for Pear Cut
Bottom line: See the diamond from all sides, heightened brilliance but reduced protection
Pear diamond in solitaire prong setting.
If you’re going the classic route and opting for a solitaire pear cut diamond with a prong setting, ensure that there’s a prong in place to protect the tip of the pear. Ideally, this would be a V-shaped prong providing maximum security to the diamond, as in the setting featured above.
This kind of setting is perfect if you want to maximize the size of the diamond and see it from all angles. This makes the stone appear large and brilliant. The number of prongs can range from 4 to 8 or more, depending on the design, but we find that the higher the number of prongs, the more pronounced the shape of the pear. Prong settings are typically very secure, even though it might not look like it. Always keep the stone from being knocked or hit on other objects to avoid damage to the exposed diamond.
4- Tension Setting for Pear Cut
Bottom line: Futuristic design, enhanced brilliance and large size
Pear diamond in tension setting.
Unlike any other setting out there, the tension ring setting is a fashion-forward, modern (almost futuristic) looking diamond ring setting. At first glance, it looks like the pear diamond is floating, suspending in air with nothing to keep it in place. This is a secure setting but can be expensive due to the effort and higher amount of metal required to make it.
No other setting shows the diamond with such minimal interference from the metal. It makes the pear appear larger than it is and is also easy to maintain and keep clean.
5- 3-Stone Ring Setting for Pear Cut
Bottom line: Traditional, meaningful and added brilliance from extra diamonds
The three stone ring setting is a meaningful setting often taken to represent Past, Present and Future. The diamond is typically held in prongs or a halo, with side stones flanking either side of the center stone.
For pear diamonds, it’s best to opt for elongated side stones that complement the long shape of the pear. Think baguettes, emeralds or rectangular cuts rather than square or round cuts. Three stone pear cut diamond engagement ring settings are stylish and sparkly, perfect if you want even more diamond!
Which Way Should You Wear the Pear Cut?
Pear cut with point facing down
Pear cut with point facing up
There is no specific way to wear the pear cut as it largely depends on your comfort and taste. You can choose to wear the ring with the point pointing either up or down.
However, traditionally, the pear was worn with the point facing upwards. This orientation tends to emphasise the slimness and length of your finger, as your eye is draw along the length of the diamond to the tip of your finger making it appear longer.
Pro tip: If you’re buying your pear cut diamond online, you’d probably want to try on the ring before you commit to it. Check out With Clarity’s home preview feature which lets you try on a replica for 3 days to help you decide if you like the look and feel of the ring. This service is free of charge so why not make use of it?
What Does the Pear Cut Mean for Engagement Rings?
When you choose a diamond shape for your engagement ring, it’s nice to know that it contains a meaning. The pear shape doesn’t have a specific meaning per se but it does have some associations to the type of woman who chooses to wear a pear shape.
Typically, if you choose a pear-shaped diamond, you would be associated with:
- Confidence and strength – this association comes from the fact that you’ve chosen a non-traditional or rarer diamond shape. Most women opt for the round or princess cut but you decided to tread a different path.
- Romance – pear cut wearers are often called romantic because the shape is elegant and feminine, with the tear shape often compared to tears of joy from your relationship.
- Vintage lover – you could also be associated with the vintage and the quaint because of the pear’s long history.
Features of the Pear Cut Diamond
The pear cut looks like a teardrop and is sometimes informally called the ‘tear’ cut. It looks like a cross between the famous round cut and the rarer marquise cut.
The pear shape consists of 58 facets (same as a round cut) arranged to maximize the sparkle of the stone. It’s among the most brilliant of the diamond shapes making it an ideal center stone choice.
Because of its pointed shape, it tends to make your finger appear long and elegant and suits any hand shape. Also, you have two ways to wear your ring – either facing up or down, giving you more design options.
But choosing the right length to width ratio makes a difference because you don’t want to end up with a pear that’s either too wide or too skinny. Experts recommend a ratio of about 1.50 to 1.75, which gives you the perfect tear shape. Of course, this is a matter of taste and if you like the look of the squatter or thinner pear, it’s totally your decision to make.
One main issue to avoid with the pear cut diamond is the dreaded bow tie. Almost every pear cut has some level of bow tie, which isn’t always a bad thing. A little bow tie can add visual interest and brightness to your stone, but if it’s the first thing you notice when you look at your pear cut – run for the hills… or choose another stone.
Remember that bow tie isn’t something you’ll find a grading report so you need to ensure that you see the exact stone you’re buying and not some stock photo of a pear cut.
Example of strong bow tie on pear cut diamond
One other point to note is that the pear shape can be quite vulnerable to breaking or chipping because of its single sharp point. It also snags on objects which increases its likelihood of chipping. It’s recommended to choose a setting that provides protection to the pear cut’s point (more on this below).
Pear Cut – Color Matters
The trouble with the pear cut is that it isn’t very forgiving and tends to show even the slightest amount of color, which means that you’ll need to opt for a higher color grade for the best look.
Diamond color ranges from D (colorless) to Z (tinted yellow). The grades in between are categorized according to overall look such as colorless, near colorless , faint color, very light color and light color. Most people like the cool look of a colorless diamond while others gravitate towards the warm tints of yellow. The choice is yours, but if you want a colorless looking pear, we recommend sticking between D-G. Note that each grade up will cost you significantly more, all else being equal.
Also note that distinguishing between grades is often very difficult, so go as far down as you can on the color scale for the most significant savings without compromising on look.
Check out these two similar pear cuts, one with D color and the other with G color. The difference in price is $1,363 but both look very similar. That’s a considerable saving that could go towards the setting of the ring.
What About Pear Cut Clarity?
In terms of clarity, the pear is great at hiding imperfections in the diamond because of its intense faceting and brilliance. The play of light from the cut makes it difficult to spot any minor flaws.
You can drop down to a VS2 for smaller stones and a VVS2 for stones over one carat. This is because the larger the stone, the easier it is to see flaws. However, the secret with clarity that most diamond retailers don’t want you to know is that the actual grade doesn’t matter all that much.
The most important thing is that the stone is visually eye clean. Again, check out the actual stone or clear photos and videos of the actual stone before you buy.
Before You Buy….
Before you buy a pear cut diamond, always make sure you see the actual images of the stone. Check for bow ties and inclusions, and always look for images and videos of the real gemstone to make sure you’re buying exactly what you’re after.
