Teardrop Cut Amethyst: Pros, Cons & Fire

The teardrop is a pear with a fuller shoulder and a gentler point. Ours runs 1.445 times longer than it is wide, on 74 facets, and its 38.46° pavilion gives a stone 60.0% deep.

Its fire, 60, is well above the T73's 36 in amethyst. We still list fire as a con, because each score counts once, against the baseline it differs from more, and the diamond teardrop scores 89.

The pavilion is under the 40.4° guide minimum for rounds. We have no measurements of a steeper teardrop, so this page reports the cut as drawn.

Does a teardrop suit amethyst? Pros and cons

Pros

A quarter lighter than diamond 0.96 vs 1.28 ct

Cons

Less fire than the diamond teardrop 60 vs 89
Loses light when tipped 56 vs 80
Less light than the T73 49 vs 72
More leakage than the T73 41 vs 28

Compared with the T73 Round Brilliant in amethyst and with the Teardrop Cut in diamond. A difference counts from 3 points (Brilliance, Fire, Tilt, Leakage), 5 (Scintillation, Symmetry), 2 (Spread) or 5% (weight); Tilt counts as a pro only for a stone within 5 points of the brilliance it is compared with. How we measure.

All eight scores against the T73

At a glance: the Teardrop Cut in amethyst (white) against the T73 Round Brilliant in amethyst (dashed): solid white where it reaches further, hatched where it falls short. Each pro and con is explained, with pictures, below.

Against the T73 Round Brilliant in amethyst: ahead on 3, behind on 5.

Global62, the comparison 70, difference −8
Brilliance49, the comparison 72, difference −23
Fire60, the comparison 36, difference +24
Scintillation81, the comparison 80, difference +1
Spread101, the comparison 100, difference +1
Symmetry98, the comparison 100, difference −2
Shape-norm57, the comparison 77, difference −20
Tilt56, the comparison 80, difference −24

Face-up light census, a different measure from the Cut Grading Tool; Spread and Shape-norm above 100 sit on the ring.

Open it in the Cut Performance Wheel

What amethyst gains in a teardrop

A quarter lighter than diamond

0.96 ct at 6.5 mm, against 1.28 ct for the same cut in diamond (−25%)

A teardrop 6.5 mm across the shoulder weighs 0.96 ct in amethyst; the diamond version is 1.28 ct.

A Teardrop Cut 6.5 mm across, weighed from the model's measured volume and each stone's specific gravity.

Try it yourself: Weights in all seven gemstones on the Teardrop Cut page

The catch with a teardrop amethyst

Less fire than the diamond teardrop

Fire 60 against 89 for the Teardrop Cut in diamond: 29 points lower

Quartz splits white light into colour less than a third as strongly as diamond. Against the round in amethyst the teardrop does well; against its own shape in diamond it cannot.

Teardrop cut in amethyst face-up under a single bright light: a render from our simulator, its coloured flashes are the fire (score 60) — Look at the coloured flashes: those are fire. Same light, same size, same face-up angle; rendered by our 3D Gemstone Simulator from each cut's own model.

Teardrop cut in diamond face-up under a single bright light: a render from our simulator, its coloured flashes are the fire (score 89) — Look at the coloured flashes: those are fire. Same light, same size, same face-up angle; rendered by our 3D Gemstone Simulator from each cut's own model.

What helps: Shorten the outline: the Oval Cut Amethyst reaches 69, top of our amethyst list.

Try it yourself: See the fire in the 3D Gemstone Simulator

Loses light when tipped

Tilt 56 against 80 for the T73 Round Brilliant in amethyst: 24 points lower

Tipped by 20°, the teardrop keeps 56 of its face-up light; the T73 keeps 80. Only one cut we measure in amethyst does worse.

Teardrop cut in amethyst tilted 0 degrees: Light Return map, 41% of the face leaking — Tilt is how much of its own face-up light a stone keeps when tilted. Each frame is the Light Return map with the stone tilted away from you by the angle shown; grey is light leaving through the pavilion. The share under each frame is that picture's own.

Teardrop cut in amethyst tilted 10 degrees: Light Return map, 36% of the face leaking — Tilt is how much of its own face-up light a stone keeps when tilted. Each frame is the Light Return map with the stone tilted away from you by the angle shown; grey is light leaving through the pavilion. The share under each frame is that picture's own.

What helps: The Oval Cut Amethyst holds 74 when tipped, steadier than the pear or the marquise in quartz.

Try it yourself: Compare the Tilt spoke in the Cut Performance Wheel

Less light than the T73

Brilliance 49 against 72 for the T73 Round Brilliant in amethyst: 23 points lower

Part of the elongated face does not send light back, and in pear-like shapes that loss often gathers as a darker band across the widest part.

Teardrop cut in amethyst face-up Light Return map: red, green and blue show where the light returns from, grey shows where it leaks (Brilliance 49) — Red, green and blue = light returning to the eye; grey = light leaving through the pavilion. This is the head-on view; the Brilliance score averages a wider cone of light, so the score can differ from what one picture shows.

T73 round brilliant in amethyst face-up Light Return map: red, green and blue show where the light returns from, grey shows where it leaks (Brilliance 72) — Red, green and blue = light returning to the eye; grey = light leaving through the pavilion. This is the head-on view; the Brilliance score averages a wider cone of light, so the score can differ from what one picture shows.

What helps: The Pear Cut Amethyst returns 52, the Oval Cut Amethyst 52.

Try it yourself: Open this Light Return map in the simulator

More leakage than the T73

Leakage 41 against 28 for the T73 Round Brilliant in amethyst: 13 points higher

41% of the light in our census leaves through the pavilion, against 28% for the round in amethyst.

What helps: The Pear Cut Amethyst leaks 39%; size does not change the share.

Try it yourself: Tilt it yourself in the simulator's light map

Who a teardrop amethyst suits

The teardrop suits amethyst pendants and earrings where a soft point is wanted and some colour play is welcome. In a drop that swings, its low Tilt score is worth weighing.

Against the classic Pear Cut Amethyst it is very close: a little less light, the same fire, and a more regular pavilion.

If the drop should hold its light as it moves and show more colour, the Oval Cut Amethyst does both.

Teardrop Cut Amethyst: questions

Is a teardrop cut good for amethyst?

For fire against a round, yes: 60 against 36. For light, it trails: 49 against 72.

Teardrop or pear amethyst?

Close. The pear returns 52 against 49 and leaks 39% against 41%; the teardrop's pavilion is more regular, Symmetry 98 against 85.

Does a teardrop amethyst hold its light as it moves?

Less well than most: Tilt 56, against 80 for the T73 and 74 for the oval in amethyst.

What does a 6.5 mm teardrop amethyst weigh?

0.96 ct; in diamond, 1.28 ct.

Get the Teardrop Cut files

6 formatsMillimetresWatertight

Teardrop Cut 3D files

The Teardrop Cut as exact geometry: 74 planar facets, real-world scale, ready for CAD, rendering, printing and casting.

STEPExact faceted solid for CAD
3DMRhino, closed mesh on its own layer
STLWatertight mesh for printing and casting
OBJMesh for modelling and rendering
FBXBlender, 3ds Max, Maya, Cinema 4D, Unity, Unreal
GLBWeb, AR and quick previews

€9.99 · Personal useBuy the 3D files

GemCad64 index

Teardrop Cut cutting files

The Teardrop Cut as a faceting design: 56 + 18 girdles = 74 facets, 64 index, 1-fold mirror-image symmetry, ready for the machine.

.ascGemCad design file, 64 index gear
.csvTier table: angles, indices and cutting order
DiagramPrintable faceting diagram

€9.99 · Personal useBuy the cutting files

Questions before you buy? Email us.

More gemstones and cuts

Amethyst: optical properties and the top ten cuts · The Teardrop Cut: specifications, model and files

Teardrop Cut Amethyst: lighter in weight than diamond, with more fire than a round here