Silver Ring With Abalone Cabochon

Many people know that the term cabochon relates to a stone of some kind but I often get asked what exactly is a cabochon. A cabochon is a gem stone that has been shaped and polished usually creating a shape with a convex top and flat bottom. Transparent stones, due to their hardness,  are usually shaped by facetting while softer opaque stones are cut and polished as cabochons. Some gemstones which are particularly soft can scratch easily and so are polished as cabochons making scratches and blemishes less evident. As stated, the usual shape of a cabochon is a half moon; this shape is used as the eyes find it harder to detect  slight imperfections in the half moon shape as opposed to a full, round stone. An exception to this are the round cabochons often found in watches.

How Are Cabochons Made?          Firstly a slab of rough rock is cut and using a template the rock is trimmed using a diamond blade saw. Once the piece is trimmed it is mounted on a handle to assist manipulation. This is done by attaching the stone to a  length of wooden dowel using wax. The piece is trimmed further until the desired shape is achieved, the back edges are sometimes bevelled and the top is sanded and polished to a uniform dome.

At bespoke jewellery and our sister site The Silver jewellery Workshop there is a selection of jewellery incorporating different cabochons. Why not click on the links and have a look.