Cabochon

Application and Purpose of Cabochon Cutting

• Cutting cabochon is usually applied to opaque gems.
• Faceting is usually used for transparent stones.
• Soft gemstones with a hardness lower than 7 on the Mohs hardness scale are easily scratched.
• Translucent gems are polished as cabochons to make the scratches less evident.
• Domed cabochon cut can show the star or eye in asteriated and chatoyant stones.

Procedure for Cutting Cabochons

• The procedure involves cutting a slab of the rough rock with a slab saw.
• A shape is stenciled from a template onto the slab.
• The slab is trimmed near the marked line using a diamond blade saw or a trim saw.
• Rough rock is ground down using diamond-impregnated wheels or silicon carbide wheels.
• The piece is then dopped onto a wooden dowel called a dop stick and ground to the template line.

Shapes of Cabochons

• The usual shape for cutting cabochons is an ellipse.
• The eye is less sensitive to small asymmetries in an ellipse compared to a uniformly round shape.
• Cabochons on some watch crowns are circular.
• The elliptical shape, combined with the dome, is attractive.
• Circular cabochons on watch crowns are an exception.

Examples in a Gallery

• Moonstone cabochons in a jeweler's window.
• A round sapphire cabochon on the crown of a men's dress watch.
• Amber pendants, including an oval cabochon pendant.
• The oval cabochon pendant measures 52 × 32 mm (2 × 1.3 in).
• Images of cabochons in various settings and jewelry pieces.

References and Historical Context

• 'Rock and Gem' (1st Americaned.). DK. ISBN0-7566-0962-3.
• 'Cutting and Polishing Gemstones - A Collection of Historical Articles on the Methods and Equipment Used for Working Gems'. Read Books Ltd. 2014. ISBN9781473395398. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
• The cutting and carving of gems were probably first done in ancient Babylon several thousand years before Christ.
• Various references and sources related to gemstone cutting and cabochon making.
• Additional information and historical context about the methods and equipment used for working gems.

Cabochon Data Sources