Cabochon

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A cabochon (

The procedure involves cutting a slab of the rough rock with a slab saw, and then stencilling a shape from a template. The slab is then trimmed near the marked line using a diamond blade saw—called a trim saw. Diamond-impregnated wheels or silicon carbide wheels can be used to grind the rough rock down. Most lapidary workshops and production facilities have moved away from silicon carbide to diamond grinding wheels or flat lap disks.^{[citation needed]}

Once the piece is trimmed it can be "dopped" or completed by hand. "Dopping" is normally done by adhering the stone with hard wax onto a length of wooden dowel called a "dop stick". The piece is then ground to the template line, the back edges may be bevelled, and finally the top is sanded and polished to a uniform dome.

Gallery

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  Moonstone cabochons in a jeweller's window
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  A round sapphire cabochon on the crown of a men's dress watch.
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  Amber pendants. The oval cabochon pendant is 52 × 32 mm (2 × 1.3 in).

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cabochons.

Look up cabochon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Cabochon Making 101