2-Carat PEAR Shaped Diamond Options

[12Artleye]

Hello Everyone,

I'm new to the community and to the world of diamonds, although I've done a ton of reading in the last month on the subject. I am looking to purchase a 2 Carat PEAR shaped diamond in the next month that I'm setting in a Platinum Solitaire engagement ring. I have been to many jewelers, but I find myself only ever being passionately sold to, rather than educated on the jeweler's honest opinion of those stones in question, so I would love the community's unbiased advice on a few options I'm considering.

My priorities for the stone are as follows:

1) No Bowtie (Or at least as small and unnoticeable as possible)
2) Brilliance & Fire
3) Shows as large as possible. Less concerned with Carat and more concerned with L x W.
4) Excellent Proportions and Rations

Generally, my search has been in the following range:

Cost: $16 - $18K
Carat: 1.9 - 2.1
Clarity: SI1 - VS1 (Pretty picky on SI1 though. Eye clean and preferably nothing on the table)
Color: G - D
Polish/Symmetry: Very Good - Excellent
Fluorescence: Medium - None
LTW Ration: 1.5 - 1.65 (I gravitate to longer stones as my GF's 2nd favorite shape was a Marquise after the Pear. I also think they tend to look bigger.)
Certification: GIA

So here are the 3 Options I'm playing with at the moment. They are all pretty much the same price.

Option 1 - 2.01 G/SI1
https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/dia-video-bucket/video/62676.html



Pros - The L x W dimensions look great and it's at WhiteFlash so I can be sure they will check all the light/brilliance stuff before I get it. Also 2x Excellent seems good.
Cons - Options 2 and 3 are D Color and VS2. This is definitely worse in that regard.

Option 2 - 2.01 D/VS2

https://www.rarecarat.com/product/80692035?ntb=1&online=35,32,25,17,27,55,54,152,30,24,107,39,29,53,106,38,50,15,103,52,105,12&mystuff=true&postalCode=20149

Pros - Color/Clarity are great. Looks brilliant in the pictures. 2x Excellent and only Faint Fluorescence. Seems GREAT on paper but will show the smallest with those dimensions.

Options 3 - 2.01 D/VS2

https://www.rarecarat.com/product/83311586?ntb=1&online=35,32,25,17,27,55,54,152,30,24,107,39,29,53,106,38,50,15,103,52,105,12&mystuff=true&postalCode=20149

V360 Viewer

t.sidekickopen79.com

Pros - L x W makes this stone show really large. I've seen it in person and it looks identical to a 2.23ct that I held right next to it. The fluorescence didn't have any negative impact that I could personally see, but I haven't looked at many diamonds.
Cons - Probably not as good on paper as an investment since it has that medium fluorescence and only Very Good Polish/Symmetry. Looking straight down at it, there was no bowtie, but when I really started playing with angles, I started to see one. I'm not experienced enough to know if that's just all Pear shapes or if you can actually find some without the gray/black bowtie at all angles.

Thanks so much to everyone for your feedback and advice!

 

[caolsen]

For what it’s worth, fancy cuts in non fancy colors aren’t an investment, really. This is likely not going to appreciate in value, so I would not make resale a primary factor. Value will drop 30% the moment it walks out the preverbal door.

That said, I own a 2.6 carat pear and I’ll tell you the length to width ratio is really personal. Do you have a preference for longer versus fatter pears? Mine is quite long at 1:7 And faces up like a 3 carat as its so long. But that elongated point can concentrate color.

It’s an L but is super clean. That is much lower than you’re looking at, but metal color and type of setting impact perceived color. A D Or G set in a deep bezel is still colorless but may not read as bright as one in an airy prong setting.

My pear is an older cut, around 1930, bog standard pear in a 18k yellow gold bezel. I got her in her original Period 5 prong platinum setting and actually wanted to use the metal choice to highlight her champagne tones. So this was a custom bezel for this pear given how long the ratio is - nothing off the shelf would fit her. The setting to me is a huge player in how a pear looks...more so than other cuts.

On bow ties, a pear not having any is a rare pear, indeed. It’s about finding one that’s miniminal and living with it. Pears are like the opera, you will see lots of bow ties. Most are crap, but when done right, you don’t notice it.

You’ll go mad looking for one with no bow tie effect. Only ones I have ever reliably seen with zero, NO bow ties are super ideal, museum quality stuff or old cuts with open culets. Great, bright professional lighting for videos also does a great job minimizing bow ties as the effect is driven by the source of light. So, put the stone on your hand and put your head between the source of light and the stone. Bend your head down over your hand like an old lady reading the paper. Best way to get a real world point of view on the bow tie.

I like #2 personally, good luck.

 

[Big Fat Facets]

of the 3 options, i favour option 2.

are you able to get aset images on any of them?

 

[12Artleye]

Thanks @caolsen, I appreciate the feedback!

@stonehunter20 - I don’t have them and wasn’t aware that none round diamonds work with them. I may see if the jeweler can get them

 

[12Artleye]

*UPDATE*

So I've ruled out the G/SI1 (Option 1). Some feedback I have gotten has been to make the investment in VS2+ if I'm going to spend this much money. I tend to agree.

I have also ruled out the D/VS2 (Option 3). I can't get over the bowtie I was noticing and a few experts mentioned that it does come off cloudy. I guess that explains why a stone that shows so large was so incredibly cheap compared to others.

The decision I am left with is the 2.00 D/VS2 (Option 2) vs a 2.05 F/VVS2 (Option 4) recommended by a long-term patron of this forum. As an extremely analytical person with a spreadsheet for everything, I am having real trouble making such a decision. Would love to hear what the community thinks.

Option 2, the 2.00 D/VS2 is Ex/Ex with all Ideal Pear Parameters except for a slightly large Table% (62%). It only has Faint Fluorescence and shows slightly larger for a 2.00 Carat stone (and larger than the 2.05 Carat stone it's being compared to.) I have been told to be careful getting a 2.00 vs 2.01+ Carat, as the loss of any matter will drop it below the <2.00 Carat mark and ruin any resell value. Unfortunately, this stone is also in India and I would have to buy from one of the large online brokers that can offer a return policy on international stones vs the broker in the PriceScope community that I would rather purchase from.

https://www.rarecarat.com/product/80710401?ntb=1&online=35,32,25,17,27,55,54,152,30,24,107,39,29,53,106,38,50,15,103,52,105,12&mystuff=true&postalCode=21663

The new Option 4 is a 2.05 F/VVS2. Obviously, VVS2 is great and it also has Ex/Ex with all Ideal Pear Parameters. Despite being larger than the D/VS2, it is about .1mm shorter with the same width, so it will face-up a bit smaller. The biggest kicker for me is it is Medium Fluorescence compared to Faint. Have a look. They are a similar price at 16-17K, but the F/VVS2 is slightly more expensive.

http://trs.ntech.us/dashboard/Videos/6315937153.MP4