Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Cabochons Opal


There are two basic types of cut used to shape any gemstone one of them is called Cabochon while other is Facet. Some Gemstones are cut as Cabochon due to their opaque property rather than transparent and faceting this type of stone will not give the required shine. Word “cabochon” in the context of gemstone word means a stone which is cut with a highly polished convex top with no faceting and its base is flat. This type of opal can be cut to any shape, and the most common shape is oval these days. In French word “Cabochon” means small dome or head and that's where it gets its name. This word is used as shortened to just "cab." Technically speaking cabochon does not means cut but it means shaped and before the art of faceting was discovered all the gems were produced this way.

Advantages of Cabochons Opal:

This form of the gem allows the jeweler to set piece more effectively. Unlikely a faceted stone when it is in placed there is the chance it can chip on the edges but the other hand these Cabochon Opals due to its dome shape just get stretches which can be easily polished later on. More round the form of the dome is more depth of the colors are. The cabochon is one of the oldest cutting styles there is. Jewelers from all around the word are now developing their artwork to match the beauty that is in these Cabochon Opals. Ellipse is the general shape in which Cabochon is cut.

Types of Cabochons Opal:

There are two types of Cabochon Opals as per their dome height is concerned. One is low height, and other is medium height while their back is flat. The gems which are opaque are cut as Cabochon rather than face style.

  1. Low height with flat back
  2. Medium height with flat back

Gemstone types like ruby, garnet and sapphire are low-grade material and are cut as Cabochon too. If the gem has excellent color, but it is not sufficiently transparent, it can also be shaped and polished as a great looking Cabochon. Not only these Cabochon Opals are used for ornamental use, but these have other uses too like Opal is month stone for October. Cabochon cut is a technique of cutting stones which yield rounded surface that is not faceted but polished. Opalescent and iridescent gems are usually cut end Cabochon. As per cutting into Cabochon is concerned these stones are cut on a machine called cam-cutter and it's more cost efficient too, and it completes more than 75% of work. Doping is a technique that is used for handcrafting cutting and that's how Cabochon is made.

Scale for measuring cabochons opal’s hardness:

Scale to measure the hardness of these Cabochon gems is Mohs scale, and it ranges from 1 to 10 where the tenth one is diamond while Opal size ranges from 5.5 to 6.5.

Guidelines to buying a perfect Cabochons Opal:

To buy these Cabochon Opals, you should keep the following instructions under consideration.

  1. Color of opal or how many colors are there in it
  2. Clarity of colors are all colors equally visible or not
  3. The brightness of fire is an attribute that is ranged from 1 to 5 where five is the brightest or say brilliant.
  4. Coverage of the colors in it, how much area do that gem is covered.
  5. You should also see how are the patterns on it
  6. Cut depth or say the height of the dome.

These guidelines and the discussed scale would help you find a good cabochons opal bringing you the ultimate delight!

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