Why are Some Gems Cut as Cabochons?

Mixed Gemstone Cabochon Assortment

A cabochon is a stone that is cut with a highly polished rounded or convex top, with or without faceting, with a flat or slightly domed base.

Technically, cabochons are not really "cut." Rather they are shaped and then polished. Before the art of faceting was developed, all gemstones were produced as rounded smooth topped cabochons, though some were intricately carved as well.  It was a much simpler task to produce a cabochon, than it was to cut a faceted gem with many faces.

Faceted gemstones made their appearance in European jewelry during the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Once the technology and skill was available to facet gemstones, why were cabochons still produced? Different gems are cut as cabs for different reasons. In many cases it is because the gem has special properties that are displayed only when it is cut as a cabochon. Examples are gems that display the star effect (asterism) or the cat's eye effect (chatoyancy)  or iridescence (e.g., opal) or adularescence (e.g., moonstone).

Azurite Malachite, Smooth Round Cabs

Most gems that are opaque rather than transparent are cut as cabochons rather than faceted. You will also see lower grade material in gemstones such as sapphire, ruby and garnet cut as cabs. If the gem material has very good color but is not sufficiently transparent or clean to be faceted, it can still be shaped and polished to be a very attractive cabochon. It is also common to cut softer stones as cabs.   Minute scratches show much less on a cabochon than on a faceted stone.

(Information shared from GemSelect.com)

Helpful Tips for Your Etsy Business - Etsy Search

Have your sales seemed to have slowed down this year?  Maybe even the views to your shop?  I know mine have.  So I decided to look into why this might be happening.

Etsy is flooded with sellers right now: new and long time ones, retail and wholesale, handmade and not handmade.  Things have really changed since I started on Etsy almost 10 years ago.  And competition is stiff.   And so, once again, Etsy has changed it search algorithm, I believe it was earlier this year.  I came across this post, I believe in the Etsy forums, and thought it was good advice to help your listings be seen, and possibly move your listings to Etsy's first page of a search for products similar to your own.

I have been implementing these changes myself, and I have to honestly tell you, I am seeing good results. In the first 3 pages of search on Etsy, using my strongest keywords, my listings show up once.  But by page 4 in search, I have many listings showing up in search.  So I am seeing results. 


This post was written by someone named Sharna R., I believe in the Etsy forums, on Mary 17, 2016.  (I have edited and added clarifying information where I felt it may be helpful.) 

"I have found great success (in a matter of just a few minutes) in updating 4 things:

1.  Title - Put your top hit search terms as the first 3 words in your title. Go to your Etsy stats page, and see what the top three search terms are for your business.  Use them in your titles.

2.  Materials - Etsy uses this information when customers search for specific things.  In my leather pacifier clips rather than just having "leather' in my materials, I added "metal pacifier clip" since my top search hit is "leather pacifier clip." 

3.  Tags - This is HUGE!  Use phrases for your tags rather than just individual words.  You will find a lot more success if you are selling earrings to use the tag "geometric stud earrings" rather than "geometric", "stud", "earrings" separately.

4.  Description - Similar to Google, Etsy seems to have it's algorithm look for "interesting pages" so adding bullet point lists, links or quotes show Etsy that there's a variety of information on your listing rather than just a brief description of what the item is. 

My best advice is to search for your listings as if you were a customer to see where they come up (which page you're on) and try a few things to improve your listings to get on the first page of your top hits search terms.  Also, learning from those listings that are on the first page has been very valuable to me as well.  Even copying the tags and titles they use has given me good success."

Hope you find this information helpful for your business. 

We're Changing Our Name to Tiger Gem Store!

Me and Tiger, 2007

Tiger Bead Store was opened in October of 2007, and at that time, it started out as a bead store.  We carried all types of beads:  gemstone, glass, wood, clay, crystal, and lots of strands of pearls.  As the store developed, I kept adding new merchandise to see what kinds of gems and jewelry supplies my customers were interested in.

When I began to add cabochons and faceted gemstones, there seemed to be quite a need for quality gems at affordable prices.  And that is really what took off as far as sales went for the store.  So Tiger Bead Store, has really become a gem store.  And that is why the name change.

Only the name has changed.  The store is still owned and operated solely by myself.  You will continue to find quality gemstone cabochons and faceted gems, and superior customer service at Tiger Gem Store.  In a few months, I am also going to change the look of the store too, which I am excited about.

Me and Tiger, 2016

As always, if you have any feedback or suggestions for me, I would love to hear from you.  Thank you for all your support over these years.  And I am always here to answer any questions or concerns you may have regarding gemstones or the products I carry.

Thank you.