During the middle ages the most common cut was the cabochon, with a convex upper surface, these stones were far from anything technical in the art of gemstone cutting. These stones were usually coloured stones, such as garnet, amethyst, or more scarcely, sapphire or ruby. It was during the fourteenth century that more complicated techniques of lapidary came to materialise in the form of facets.

Early Gemstone Cutting
, by Samuel Mee, 2 min reading time