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lapidary
About Us
Hello, We are rock and mineral enthusiasts. We love cutting and polishing gem quality rocks. We hope you enjoy our handcrafted cabochons and ornaments as much as we do.
Lapidary work involves gemstone cutting, polishing or engraving. If you are new to the wonderful world of lapidary, we wish you a delightful journey and a great adventure.
What is a cabochon?
A cabochon is a gem or a gemstone cut in a convex form preferably a dome shape. Such a gem or gemstone cabochon is polished yet not faceted.
How to shape a cabochon?
A cabochon is cut and shaped by using a cabbing machine. A cabbing machine has a set of diamond wheels for cutting, and polishing wheels to shine the gem quality cabochon.
How to use a cabochon?
A cabochon can be added to decorate clothing, personal wearable items, home decor and others. A gem quality cabochon is often used to fabricate ornamental jewelry such as a gem in a pendant or in a ring.
How to cut a slab?
A lapidary slab saw or a rock saw is used for cutting slabs. A piece of rock can be securely clamped on a table of the slab saw allowing a cutting disc saw to cut a slab of a certain thickness off the rock.
Is it hard to polish a slab?
Luckily there are lapidary polishers for polishing a slab or a cabochon. A flat lap machine comes with diamond discs having several grit sizes. Using these discs from a coarse grit disc to an extra fine grit disc consecutively on a slab surface removes scratches on the surface of a slab. As the slab is polished, its surface becomes scratch-free.
How to engrave a rock?
Engraving or carving into a surface of a rock is done by using a rotary drill or a rotary handpiece with different shaped jewelers cutting burs.
Frequently Asked Questions?
A hobbyist, rock and gemstone enthusiasts, an engraver, or a jeweler
Cabochons are commonly cut into an oval, a circle, a square, a rectangular or an ellipse shape. Some cabochons present to have a shape of a heart, a star, a cross, or a trapezoid.
List below are some standard sizes in millimeter (mm).
Oval: 18×13 20×15 25×15 25×18, 30×22, 40×30
Circle: 10, 12, 14, 16, 30 mm diameter, and 1.5 inch diameter
Square: 8×8 10×10 12×12 16×16
Rectangular: 14×12 14×10 12×10 12×8 15×11 16×12 16×14
Ellipse: 16×8 22×8 18×9 24×10
Most cabochons are handcrafted into oval or ellipse shapes. Some are round or free forms. Our cabochons are at least 30mm x 22mm in size and they are very often larger. We also have smaller cabochons. Sizes depend on the availability of rough materials obtained to cut into slabs.
Whether you are a hobbyist or serious in making cabochon jewelry or artwork, come try our cabochons. We offer assorted cabochons in an order to meet your creative needs.
Items in stock will be shipped within 2-3 business days after payment is received. Items not in stock and made to fill an order will be shipped within 1-3 weeks after payment is received. Orders are filled on a regular basis.
Navigate to the shop page and add the items you like in a basket. Proceed to check out and make a payment. Once your order is shipped, a notification email will be sent to the email you provided to us.
We accept credit card payments and Paypal.