Why cabochons?

[davi_el_mejor]

Besides things like stars and cats eye etc., why cut cabs? I'm not knocking cabs, I'm just curious. What factors make a stone cab worthy vice faceting?

 

[chrono]

Gorgeous colour but too included to be faceted.

 

[jstarfireb]

I've always wondered the same thing myself. I'm not a cab fan in general (besides stars, cat's eyes, etc). I do think cabs are nice for translucent to opaque stones or when the material is too included to be facet-quality but still has nice color. Otherwise I'll always pick faceted stones over cabs.

 

[marymm]

I am eager to hear from cutters about this too.

I think some rough lends itself better to a cabochon cut. My (off-the-cuff) assumption is that for most gemstone families, a well-cut faceted stone will command a higher price than a well-cut cabochon. So the rough quality doesn't have the clarity required for a facet cut, or maybe a cabochon cut makes better use of the rough's size/shape. And there are market conditions and trends that might prompt cutters to decide one way or the other.

I guess too I think of cabochons as a whole 'nother ball of wax - they showcase gemstones in a way faceted cuts cannot, and have their own unique beauty; in some ways they seem more organic, closer to their natural/untouched state. So every time a cutter assesses a piece of rough, I'm thinking they are making economic calculations for sure, but also considering the aesthetics as well.

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

Personally, I like most colored gemstones for their color, and diamonds for their sparkle. I love how cabs look like colored drops of rain. I have one nice namanga garnet that is cut into an asscher which I love but mostly I have been looking for cabs. I wish more of them were cut!

 

[Upgradable]

I appreciate the glow of a cab in a different way than the glitter and sparkle of a faceted gem.

 

[Fly Girl]

Cabochons have flat backs, which makes for great earrings!!

 

[Lady_Disdain]

I love the liquid look of a well polished cab and how the light moves over the curves. I hate the fact that most cabs are cut from inferior rough - a clean cab is a thing of great beauty.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I love my new sapphire cab. True, it's a star sapphire, but even when the star isn't there I love the glow and sheen and ephemeral quality of the cab. It's a very dreamy, watery kind of beauty. And the shifting of the light within a very translucent cab is just as interesting and dynamic to me as the crisper sparkle of a faceted gem.

I also think it's sad that translucent, high quality cabs are hard to find. Especially in the more expensive materials like sapphire etc.

 

[Michael_E]

Besides things like stars and cats eye etc., why cut cabs? I'm not knocking cabs, I'm just curious. What factors make a stone cab worthy vice faceting?

Money, (I think that it is the biggest factor in nearly everything else and is probably a bigger factor in gem cutting than anything else). Cabs are typically less expensive than faceted stones by a factor of from 2 to 10 and so the wise cutter will always try to facet a stone before cabbing it. If you want something particular, like an eye-clean cab, then you'll probably need to ask a cutter and be prepared to pay what that same stone would have sold for had it been faceted. The attached picture shows a sapphire cab which I cut for a lady years ago and it was cut that way only because she asked me to, as it was light enough and would have been far more marketable as a faceted gem. The tough part, from the perspective of a consumer and in this era of the 'net, is that most expect to be able to look around and find just what they want if they look long enough. Unfortunately, most cutters have a hard time selling the potential of a rough stone and so have to cut whatever they think will bring the best return and this means a faceted stone in a relatively common cut style which is a good fit to the shape of the rough.

On the other hand, cabs are a really good place to use that dark rough which is too dark for faceting. Why? Because a cab can be hollowed out enough to lighten the stone, (and even get some decorative effect from internal "bubble" or "V" cutting). I think that you may see more of this sort of thing in the future as cutters are forced to get more creative.

 

[Treenbean]

Because they are beautiful and gemmy and glow-y. They have history. Sugarloaf cabs are names so because sugar used to come in a cone shape, wrapped in blue indigo paper, you needed special sugar nippers to cut the rock hard white mass. The indigo paper was re-used to dye cotton for dresses etc.

One of the first rings I ever fell in love with was a sugarloaf sapphire in a platinum and diamond deco setting.