Cabochon shapes
Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2019 1:04 am
We've already had an article on common facet designs, but there are a wide array of cabochon shapes as well. My problem is trying to remember names of many of them, so here is my cheat sheet:
As with facet designs, there are many creative cabochon designs that don't neatly fit any of the shapes shown above. For those, it is usually good enough to find a near match and preface that name with either the word "custom" or "freeform" to alert the reader that it differs somewhat from what is more or less standard for that shape.
There are also some features unique to cabochons (as far as I know). First is the interesting trend toward leaving interesting natural voids (vugs), which may contain sparkling micro crystals (druzy). Another is to leave one or more interesting edges in their natural state (other than the face being polished. These "natural edge" pieces may showcase sparkling crystalization, interesting textures of the stone's rind, matrix or adjacent mineralization, etc. The basic shapes may also feature carving, rather than simple rounding-over. Tablet cuts are nearly flat on top (rather than having a perceptible dome), and are used in transparent materials to highlight valued inclusions, used to produce lighter-weight gems (e.g., for earrings), and to retain interesting patterns.
I'm sure not to have listed all the shapes (regular hexagons, rounds, octagons and more), so it would be great if anyone noticing any missing would add photos here.
As with facet designs, there are many creative cabochon designs that don't neatly fit any of the shapes shown above. For those, it is usually good enough to find a near match and preface that name with either the word "custom" or "freeform" to alert the reader that it differs somewhat from what is more or less standard for that shape.
There are also some features unique to cabochons (as far as I know). First is the interesting trend toward leaving interesting natural voids (vugs), which may contain sparkling micro crystals (druzy). Another is to leave one or more interesting edges in their natural state (other than the face being polished. These "natural edge" pieces may showcase sparkling crystalization, interesting textures of the stone's rind, matrix or adjacent mineralization, etc. The basic shapes may also feature carving, rather than simple rounding-over. Tablet cuts are nearly flat on top (rather than having a perceptible dome), and are used in transparent materials to highlight valued inclusions, used to produce lighter-weight gems (e.g., for earrings), and to retain interesting patterns.
I'm sure not to have listed all the shapes (regular hexagons, rounds, octagons and more), so it would be great if anyone noticing any missing would add photos here.
