Brilliant Pear: Online Faceting Designs and Diagrams

I have several different versions of the Brilliant Pear gem design. You can find cutting instructions for this version here. Although similar, the Brilliant Pear found in my book, Learn to Facet the Right Way, is a different design.

Notes on the Brilliant Pear

I designed this Brilliant Pear to cut like a Standard Round Brilliant (SRB) and look like a pear. It has excellent brilliance or light return, much better than any traditional pear I've ever seen.

Unlike many pear designs, this one employs a centered culet, which makes it much easier to cut. The pavilion is basically a split mains variation of the SRB with 3 elongated sets of facets. The crown is an even simpler modification of the SRB pattern.

The Brilliant Pear doesn't entail the numerous height and elevation angle changes required in many pear designs, so it's relatively simple to cut.

Please note: I cut the stone in the photo with a high crown to maximize the yield of some rather pricey rough. The version presented in the diagrams and cutting instructions in this article employs a lower crown and larger table.

Cutting Remarks

The design angles presented here are intended for materials with a refractive index of 1.62. They'll wear very well on topaz and tourmaline. For quartz and beryl, add 2 degrees to the pavilion.

Cut this design in order, i.e. P1 precedes P2, etc. The P8 facets are shown for faceters who cut this design large. They add some interest as the size of the stone increases. On smaller stones (3 carats or less), you can and should eliminate the P8 facets. They would be too small to have any noticeable effect and would be difficult to cut.

Enjoy cutting your own Brilliant Pear.

Detailed faceting instructions by Jeff Graham available at The Rock Peddler