Pear
A drop with a more pronounced shoulder, wider at the base and distinctly narrow at the top.
Pear and drop are used interchangeably by most sellers. Where a distinction is drawn, pear is the fuller, more strongly shouldered version.
The shape works best where the pearl is the entire focus of the piece, since its outline does the design work.
When you are buying
Judge a pear pearl in profile, not head on. Many look symmetrical from the front and lean noticeably from the side.
Pear-shaped pearls
3 pieces in the collection right now, from ₹23,920.
Drop
Tapered at one end and rounded at the other, like a teardrop. Highly valued when the taper is symmetrical.
Baroque
Any pearl with no axis of symmetry. Once treated as a reject, now the shape most associated with contemporary pearl design.
Oval
Symmetrically elongated, like an egg. Reads as elegant rather than compromised, and flatters a longer neckline.