Pandora's Guide to Stone Shapes, Cuts and Settings

The right cut and setting enhance the true beauty of a gemstone,
elevating it from ordinary to extraordinary.

Gemstone cutting is the process of turning rough, unpolished stones into gemstones for use in jewellery, giving them a specific shape and enabling their brilliance and colour to emerge.

The shape of a stone determines the look of a piece of jewellery, and it also determines the shape and size of its setting. Lapidary is the art of working with gemstone cuts and polishing and it is an ancient technique that can be traced back thousands of years where artisans crafted tools from rocks and ornaments from precious gems and stones. Gemstone cutting is the process of turning rough, unpolished stones into gemstones for use in jewellery, giving them a specific shape and enabling their brilliance and colour to emerge.

Pandora Stones

The stones used in Pandora jewellery are cut and faceted before being shipped from our suppliers. The natural stones we use are most often cut and polished by hand, and the majority of our cubic zirconia, synthetic crystals and other synthetic stones are faceted by machinery. Synthetic gemstones typically have hand-polished facets. However, exceptions do apply.