By: Jocelyn Rodriguez, October 6, 2025
Tigers Eye
For years, faceted brilliance dominated the conversation around gemstones. Today, the industry is seeing a quiet but steady revival of stones that speak in a smoother and more natural voice: cabochons and buff tops.
These polished surfaces don’t shout with sparkle. Instead, they invite the eye into color, texture, and vibes. From the golden shimmer of tiger’s eye to the deep mirror-like glow of black onyx, opaque stones and cabochon cuts are redefining what elegance looks like in fine jewelry and even high jewelry.
Designers are embracing them for their ability to ground a piece and the person wearing it. Where a faceted stone plays with light, a cabochon creates intimacy and becomes the kind of jewel that feels almost talismanic. Buff tops, with their hybrid style of a flat base and gently domed crown, offer the best of both worlds: subtle reflection paired with smooth, touchable dimension
Handwoven rope style, 18K Yellow Gold bracelet infused with Onyx
This shift isn’t just confined to the trade. It’s showing up in culture, too. Actor Damson Idris, profiled in The New York Times for his new jewelry line Didris, is already leaning into bold surfaces and saturated color and pieces that rely less on glitter and sparkle, and more on presence.
“I never wanted to make a line that consisted of pieces that I wasn’t excited about and I wouldn’t wear in my everyday life,” he said. His collection echoes what we’re seeing across the market: jewelry that tells a story through form and mood.
And the movement isn’t without precedent. French jeweler Jean Dinh Van made his mark in the 1960s by stripping away ornamentation and transforming everyday shapes like locks, keys, and even razor blades into jewelry. His minimalist, geometric approach was considered radical at the time. Sixty years later, his work continues to resonate, and nearly every major brand has followed in his footsteps.
Together, these examples highlight what cabochons and buff tops represent: jewelry that favors mood, texture, and individuality over uniformity.
The Deux Perles ring, a square ring framing two cultured pearls and created for Pierre Cardin.
The new palettes lean towards earthy and modern all at once. Opals, tiger’s eye, onyx, malachite, and other opaque gems bring warmth and weight into collections that once leaned entirely on high sparkle. In a season where individuality defines the market, these stones are finding their place, not as alternatives or misfits, but as statements in their own right.
As demand grows, Prima Gems has been working closely with clients to source layouts in these materials, offering a range of shapes and sizes ready to inspire. From calibrated onyx cabochons to unique buff-top opals, these stones are stepping into a new chapter of design.
What was once background is becoming the centerpiece. In the world of cabochons and buff tops, subtlety is power. The beauty of color lies not just in brilliance, but in depth, texture, and feeling.