Teardrop Cut Sapphire: Pros, Cons & Fire

The teardrop is a pear with a fuller shoulder and a gentler point, made for pendants and earrings. Our model is 1.445 to 1, 74 facets, 60.0% deep, with a 38.46° pavilion figure.

In sapphire it has the fourth-highest fire we measure, 64. Its light is the weak point: 59, and less of it kept as the stone swings, which matters in exactly the jewelry it was designed for.

Is a teardrop a good cut for sapphire? Pros and cons

Pros

Much more fire than the T73 64 vs 37

Cons

Far less light than the T73 59 vs 94
Holds its light poorly when tipped 52 vs 80
Nearly a quarter of the light leaks 23 vs 5
Heavier than diamond 1.46 vs 1.28 ct

Compared with the T73 Round Brilliant in sapphire 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 sapphire (white) against the T73 Round Brilliant in sapphire (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 sapphire: ahead on 3, behind on 5.

Global67, the comparison 79, difference −12
Brilliance59, the comparison 94, difference −35
Fire64, the comparison 37, difference +27
Scintillation81, the comparison 80, difference +1
Spread101, the comparison 100, difference +1
Symmetry98, the comparison 100, difference −2
Shape-norm69, the comparison 102, difference −33
Tilt52, the comparison 75, difference −23

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 a sapphire gains as a teardrop

Much more fire than the T73

Fire 64 against 37 for the T73 Round Brilliant in sapphire: 27 points higher

Fire 64 against 37. Only three cuts score higher in sapphire, and of those only the oval also returns more light.

Teardrop cut in sapphire face-up under a single bright light: a render from our simulator, its coloured flashes are the fire (score 64) — 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.

T73 round brilliant in sapphire face-up under a single bright light: a render from our simulator, its coloured flashes are the fire (score 37) — 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 sapphire

Far less light than the T73

Brilliance 59 against 94 for the T73 Round Brilliant in sapphire: 35 points lower

Brilliance 59 against 94: over a third less. The diamond teardrop returns less still, 46.

Teardrop cut in sapphire face-up Light Return map: red, green and blue show where the light returns from, grey shows where it leaks (Brilliance 59) — 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 sapphire face-up Light Return map: red, green and blue show where the light returns from, grey shows where it leaks (Brilliance 94) — 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: Among elongated shapes in sapphire, the Oval Cut Sapphire returns 66 and has more fire too. For full light, DG-M5 Sapphire at 100.

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

Holds its light poorly when tipped

Tilt 52 against 80 for the Teardrop Cut in diamond: 28 points lower

At 20° it keeps 52 of its face-up light against 80 for the diamond teardrop. Of every shape we measure in sapphire, it is the lowest on this score.

Teardrop cut in sapphire tilted 0 degrees: Light Return map, 23% 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 sapphire tilted 10 degrees: Light Return map, 31% 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: No elongated cut we measure in sapphire holds much more; the Oval Cut Sapphire keeps 58.

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

Nearly a quarter of the light leaks

Leakage 23 against 5 for the T73 Round Brilliant in sapphire: 18 points higher

The census puts its leakage at 23%, over four times the T73's 5%. The pavilion figure of 38.46° is above sapphire's 36.4° guide minimum.

What helps: A steeper pavilion is not the lever here. If the outline can change, the Cushion Cut Sapphire leaks 11%.

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

Heavier than diamond

1.46 ct at 6.5 mm, against 1.28 ct for the same cut in diamond (+14%)

1.46 ct at 6.5 mm wide in sapphire, 1.28 ct in diamond; a pair of earrings carries that difference twice.

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

What helps: Choose drops by length and width.

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

Who a teardrop sapphire suits

The teardrop suits a sapphire where colour flashes and a soft outline matter more than face-up light: a pendant in a pale blue or a colourless sapphire, for example.

For a drop that keeps more light, the Oval Cut Sapphire. For the classic sharper point, the Pear Cut Sapphire, which returns a little more light but less fire, 56.

Its gentler point is also less exposed than a pear's, which counts with a stone worn daily; sapphire's hardness of 9 resists scratching, but tips are where chips start.

Teardrop Cut Sapphire: questions

Is a teardrop cut good for sapphire?

For fire, yes: 64, against 37 for the T73. For light, less so: Brilliance 59, with 23% leakage.

Teardrop or pear for a sapphire pendant?

More fire in the teardrop, 64 to 56; a few more points of light in the pear, 62 to 59.

Does a teardrop sapphire darken when it moves?

It keeps 52 of its face-up light at 20° of tilt, the lowest of the shapes we measure in sapphire.

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

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

Teardrop Cut Sapphire: far more fire than a round, in a softer pear