Natural Pear Shaped Diamonds

A pear is a round brilliant and a marquise joined together — one soft end, one point — and that asymmetry is what makes it interesting and what makes it hard to buy from a report alone.

Everything depends on the axis. Draw a line from the point through the middle of the rounded end: the two sides should be identical along it, and the point should sit exactly on it rather than leaning. A pear that leans a degree or two looks unsettled on the finger, and it is one of the few faults a setting cannot disguise. The symmetry grade is a useful filter, not an answer — the 360° video is the answer.

Look for the shoulders too. They should curve smoothly out of the point without flat sections, and the belly should be full rather than pinched. A well-proportioned pear at 1.40 to 1.60 length-to-width carries a bow-tie that flickers as the stone moves; a poorly cut one carries a static dark band.

Wear it with the point towards the fingernail — it lengthens the finger — and always with a V-prong over the tip, which is the part that chips.