Someone brought a photo of a pendant to one of the jewelers we do gem cutting for and asked the jeweler if they could make one like it.
The jeweler asked us if we could facet a black Onyx cabochon and drill it in the center for a diamond plate which would be mounted in the center on top.
Below you will see the steps we used in making the faceted Onyx cabochon.
At left you can see a phopto of the pendant which the customer wanted duplicated.
This is the mounting which the jeweler manufactured and sent to us to cut the Onyx to fit.
This is the piece of rough Black Onyx which we started with.
Here I am starting to hand grind the Onyx into the rough hexagonal shape.
Here I have fit the hexagonal Onyx into the center of the mounting.
You can also see a yellow horizontal line I have drawn on the Onyx to show the level where the facets need to start.
Here I am faceting the black Onyx to the proper angles.
You can see the first couple of facets I have placed on the Onyx.
Here you can see that I have finished cutting the 6 main facets.
They are not yet polished.
Here you can see the finished Onyx faceted cabochon.
The top facet has been finished and the center hole has also been drilled.
Here I have set the faceted Onyx into the pendant and placed the center Diamond plate on top.
This is the side view.
This is a top down view of the faceted Onyx in the pendant, viewed as it will be when being worn by the owner.
→ Take me back to examples of Faceted Cabochons we have cut . . .
Denton Anderson,
Gemologist & Gem Cutter
click photo for Video
Graduate Gemologist, GIA, GG
Over 20 years of experience.
