PEAR SHAPED DIAMOND JEWELRY

Point up, toward your fingernail. That's how nearly everyone wears it, and it's where the flattering part comes from: the taper carries your eye along the finger and the whole hand reads longer. Point down isn't wrong, it just gives that up. We set them point up unless you tell us otherwise, so if you want it the other way, say so on the order and we'll build it that way.

Some do. A bow tie is a dark band across the waist of the stone, and it comes from how deep the cutter left the belly, not from an inclusion, so no certificate will warn you about it. Every pear gets looked at face up on our bench before it goes into a setting. A faint one that only shows at certain angles is normal and nobody sees it on the hand. A heavy one we don't set. If you want eyes on the exact stone first, contact us.

At the same carat weight, yes. A 1.00 CT pear covers more finger than a 1.00 CT round, because the weight is spread down a longer outline instead of packed into a circle, so more of it faces up. The price follows the same geometry: a fancy shape keeps more of the rough crystal than a round does, so it costs less per carat for the same weight. Prices on this page range as low as $837.99.

Most people land between 1.45 and 1.75, and 1.50 is the safe middle. Under about 1.40 a pear starts to read stubby and you lose the lengthening effect you bought it for. Over about 1.80 it gets narrow, the point gets more delicate, and it suits a long finger more than a short one. There's no correct number, only the one that looks right on the hand it's going on. Tell us which piece you're looking at and we'll tell you the ratio of the stone we'd set in it.

Yes, at the tip. The point is the thinnest part of the stone and it's where a knock lands, so it takes a V-prong that wraps both edges instead of a round prong perched on top of it. That's how we set every pear on this page. It protects the stone, and it keeps the point looking like a point, which a plain prong flattens. Past that, a pear wears like any other ring: look at the prongs once a year, and our Lifetime Limited Labor Warranty covers the work if the tip ever needs it.