WHAT IS A CABOCHON?

ORIGIN HISTORY

Beauty makes a strong impression and people have always tried to emphasize it by all available means. Almost every piece of jewelry begins with the selection, cutting, and grinding of stones, and one of the most ancient methods of processing them is the cabochon.

Cabochons are still very popular today and are widely used in the jewelry industry, as well as by private jewelers and needlewomen.

The term “cabochon” appeared in the XVII century in France and was formed from the French word, translated as “head”. It appeared by association with the round head of a nail, this name took root and became used thanks to one of the richest Frenchmen of that time — Cardinal Jules Mazarin. He had a collection of large diamonds and was very fond of his property, and to avoid the large losses that were inevitable when cutting, he ordered the stones to be polished, giving them a rounded shape.

The brilliance of smooth diamonds made a lasting impression on the French court and gave rise to the fashion for jewelry with smooth convex stones.

USING CABOCHONS TODAY

Today, cabochons are evenly polished and polished stones, convex on top, and smooth on the bottom. Such processing is subjected to a huge number of varieties of jewelry raw materials and it allows you to significantly expand the list of stones worthy of becoming jewelry because of their natural pattern, color, or special radiance.

Cabochons come in different shapes and sizes, but geometric shapes are more commonly used: oval, circle, drop, cross, square. There are also heart-shaped cabochons and polyhedra.

The choice of shape for the stone is determined by the properties of the mineral, the idea of the jeweler, and the natural pattern. The tastes of buyers of finished products vary, but traditionally a heart is suitable for a young person. For a blooming woman — an oval, a drop, or a circle. In products intended for men, set square or rectangular stones.

WHAT ARE CABOCHONS MADE OF?

The list of raw materials for the production of cabochons is very wide. These are both ornamental and precious and semi-precious stones, as well as wood, glass, ceramics, and, of course, acrylic. Everyone has their own advantages and disadvantages, as well as their own fans. Some customers, choosing jewelry, select them to match the color and style of clothing and the time of day. Others-guided by ideas about the usefulness of certain stones. Still, others strictly follow a certain fashion.

CABOCHON IN STAINED GLASS

A cabochon is a relief-shaped insert in a stained-glass window, mostly transparent, often pressed or molded (molled) into a mold, with an appearance resembling a drop of water or a glass button. A stained glass cabochon can be a hemisphere or a slightly flattened hemisphere with a rim for mounting in a frame, as well as a more complex shape.

A stained glass window with a cabochon, in addition to the fact that it looks very expensive and prestigious, with the right arrangement of the cabochon on a sunny day, can give completely unexpected and stunning lighting effects.

Cabochons can be used to mimic dewdrops or the middle of flowers. They add sophistication and originality to the stained glass.

Also, a stained glass window made up of cabochons can become an independent decoration of your home. Just imagine what a beautiful suncatcher can turn out from cabochons! And if you hang it on the window or the veranda, the light will fill the space with its facets!

 

WHERE ELSE ARE CABOCHONS USED?

In addition to jewelry and costume jewelry, cabochons are glass, acrylic, plastic, and so on. They can be used in jewelry, in hand-made crafts, as decorative flower decoration, or in aquariums.

They can be used in bulk or as separate parts of the interior, you can also hang or glue to the glass so that they play and shimmer in the light.

The simplest cabochons can be purchased in art stores or pet stores.

HOW TO MAKE СABASHONS YOURSELF?

You will be able to make them yourself only if you have special equipment. This requires a fusing furnace. Cabochons are melted from the colored glass at a temperature of almost 790 degrees.

To begin with, the glass cutter cuts out the bases of colored and transparent glass. You can use any colors you want.

After that, the master makes cabochons of transparent and colored glass. You can put the transparent glass on top and then the cabochon will be more glossy. And if you put the colored glass on top, the color will be more active.

After all the manipulations, the cabochons are carefully placed in the oven.

We use a special plate for this purpose, which we coat with a special composition so that the glass does not stick to it.

The baking process is not fast. After laying the blanks of the future cabochons, the oven is heated to 790 degrees, at this temperature it is kept for 20 minutes. Then the oven is turned off, opening the lid resets the temperature to 760 degrees Celsius. Then close the lid and let them cool down naturally. This is about 5-6 hours. And the entire cycle from the beginning of melting to complete cooling takes about 8 hours

At the output, we get this kind of beauty.

We make cabochons both for ourselves and for sale.

The most popular sizes are:

• 20mm,
• 25mm,
• 30mm,
• 35 mm,

any color scheme. In our store, you can buy from 5 pieces.

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