Teardrop Cut Moissanite: Pros, Cons & Fire

The teardrop rounds off the pear's shoulders and blunts its point. Measured on our model: 74 facets, an outline 1.445 times as long as it is wide, a 38.46° pavilion and 60.0% total depth. It goes where a gentler drop is wanted, in pendants and earrings.

Against our pear in moissanite the trade is plain. The teardrop faces up a touch larger for its weight (116 against 115) and has a more regular pavilion, but it returns less light (39 against 49).

Is moissanite good in a teardrop cut? Pros and cons

Pros

Much larger for its weight than a round 116 vs 100
Lighter than a diamond teardrop 1.17 vs 1.28 ct
More fire than in diamond 96 vs 89

Compared with the T73 Round Brilliant in moissanite and with the Teardrop Cut in diamond. A difference counts from 3 points (Brilliance, Fire, Tilt, Leakage), 5 (Scintillation, Symmetry), 4% (face-up size per carat) 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 moissanite (white) against the T73 Round Brilliant in moissanite (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 moissanite: ahead on 2, behind on 6.

Global71, the comparison 91, difference −20
Brilliance39, the comparison 86, difference −47
Fire96, the comparison 97, difference −1
Scintillation81, the comparison 80, difference +1
Spread101, the comparison 100, difference +1
Symmetry98, the comparison 100, difference −2
Shape-norm45, the comparison 93, difference −48
Tilt86, the comparison 94, difference −8

Face-up light census, a different measure from the Cut Grading Tool; Spread and Shape-norm above 100 sit on the ring. Spread is the census's estimate from depth alone; the face-up size in the pros and cons is measured from each model's outline.

Open it in the Cut Performance Wheel

What moissanite gains in a teardrop cut

Much larger for its weight than a round

Face-up size 116 against 100 for the T73 Round Brilliant in moissanite (T73 = 100): 16% more face-up area for the same weight

Measured from the model, face-up size is the area the outline covers for each carat, with the T73 as 100. The teardrop covers 116; of the cuts we measure, only the Marquise, the Rectangle and the Radiant cover more.

Teardrop Cut · 8.90 x 6.16 mm at 1.00 ct · Face-up size 116

T73 Round Brilliant · 6.68 mm at 1.00 ct · Face-up size 100

Both stones weigh 1.00 ct in moissanite and are drawn to the same scale in millimetres, from each cut's own model. Face-up size is the outline's area per carat, with the T73 at 100: a deeper stone, or a rounder outline, spreads less area for its weight.

Try it yourself: See its size at 1.00 ct in moissanite in the 3D Gemstone Simulator

Lighter than a diamond teardrop

1.17 ct at 6.5 mm, against 1.28 ct for the same cut in diamond (−9%)

Moissanite is the lighter material, specific gravity 3.22 to diamond's 3.52, so a teardrop cut to the same millimetres carries fewer carats.

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

More fire than in diamond

Fire 96 against 89 for the Teardrop Cut in diamond: 7 points higher

The diamond teardrop already shows 89; in moissanite the same model reaches 96, close to the T73 in moissanite at 97.

Teardrop cut in moissanite face-up under a single bright light: a render from our simulator, its coloured flashes are the fire (score 96) — 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.

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

The catch with a teardrop moissanite

Much less light than a round

Brilliance 39 against 86 for the T73 Round Brilliant in moissanite: 47 points lower

39 against 86, and below the diamond teardrop's 46. Its 38.46° pavilion sits just under the 39.5° guide minimum, a guide drawn for rounds; we have not measured a steeper teardrop.

Teardrop cut in moissanite face-up Light Return map: red, green and blue show where the light returns from, grey shows where it leaks (Brilliance 39) — 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 moissanite face-up Light Return map: red, green and blue show where the light returns from, grey shows where it leaks (Brilliance 86) — 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 keeps a drop outline with more light, 49, and the Marquise returns 59. For the most light, DG-M5 Moissanite.

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

More leakage than a round

Leakage 29 against 7 for the T73 Round Brilliant in moissanite: 22 points higher

29% of the light in our census leaks out of the back, against 7% for the T73. In diamond the same teardrop loses 28%, much the same.

Teardrop cut in moissanite tilted 0 degrees: Light Return map, 38% of the face leaking — 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 moissanite tilted 10 degrees: Light Return map, 39% of the face leaking — 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 share stays the same in a smaller stone. The Pear leaks 22%, the Marquise 19%.

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

Keeps a little less when tipped

Tilt 86 against 94 for the T73 Round Brilliant in moissanite: 8 points lower

Tipped by 20°, it holds 86 of its face-up light against the T73's 94. That beats the diamond teardrop's 80, but the light it starts with is low.

What helps: No drop-shaped cut we measure is bright enough to recommend for tilt. A round that holds its light when tipped is DG-Miliano Moissanite: 95 at 20°, with Brilliance 86.

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

Who a teardrop moissanite suits

The teardrop suits pendants and earrings where a soft drop outline, a big face for the weight and plenty of colour matter more than a bright face. Its fire is among the highest of the fancy shapes we measure in moissanite.

If the stone should look bright, the Pear returns more light in a similar outline, and a round such as DG-Anteros Moissanite far more.

Elongated brilliants often show a dark bow-tie through the middle, and we have no measure of how much this teardrop shows.

Teardrop Cut Moissanite: questions

Is teardrop cut moissanite fiery?

Yes: Fire 96, against 89 for a diamond teardrop and 97 for the T73 in moissanite.

Teardrop or pear cut moissanite?

The teardrop faces up a little larger for its weight (116 against 115); the pear returns more light (49 against 39) and leaks less (22% against 29%).

How heavy is a 6.5 mm wide teardrop moissanite?

It weighs 1.17 ct, where a diamond teardrop as wide weighs 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

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More gemstones and cuts

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

Teardrop Cut Moissanite: a generous face for its weight, with strong fire