What it is

Cabochon Basics: Cutting and Polishing is a one-day guest-instructor lapidary workshop at Ignite Jewelry Studios, a metalsmithing studio, school and gallery in downtown Asheville, North Carolina. The studio’s booking page says students learn “the basics of cutting, shaping, and plishing [sic] a cabachon [sic] stone with instructor Dan Portale on a Cab King polishing machine”. He also covers how to choose rough. “Each person will cut and finish a cabochon during the workshop to take with them.” According to its About page, Jessica Blissett opened Ignite in April 2019. It offers bench rental, classes and workshops, and a gallery for local jewelers, and it has reopened downtown after “heavy damage to the former studio.”

Who it’s for

Beginners in the Asheville area who want a single full day on a cabbing machine without buying equipment, and jewelers who want to cut their own stones for settings. Students can bring their own rough, or use or buy rough at the studio.

Why it’s listed

It’s a dated, priced lapidary class on the studio’s own booking system, Acuity Scheduling at ignitejewelrystudios.as.me, which ignitejewelrystudios.com links to as “Sign Up For Workshops”. The page shows the date, time, length, price, class size and open spots, so it isn’t an aggregator listing.

Official URL

https://ignitejewelrystudios.as.me/?appointmentType=97136359

Studio booking page (all workshops): https://ignitejewelrystudios.as.me/WorkshopsClassesAppointments

Studio site: https://www.ignitejewelrystudios.com/

Workshops: https://www.ignitejewelrystudios.com/workshops

About Us: https://www.ignitejewelrystudios.com/about-us

Studio location: https://www.ignitejewelrystudios.com/location

Contact: https://www.ignitejewelrystudios.com/contact

Policies: https://www.ignitejewelrystudios.com/policies

(First-party pages checked 2026-10-13. Every cited URL returned HTTP 200 to curl with a Chrome user agent. The Acuity page draws the date with JavaScript; it was read from the page rendered in headless Chrome.)

Location

84 Walnut St, Unit A, Asheville, NC 28801, in the heart of downtown, across from Zambra restaurant, with the Harrah’s and Rankin city garages right below (Location and Contact pages). Phone 828-552-4805 · [email protected]. Gallery hours: Tuesday–Saturday 11–4, plus workshop and event times.

This is a single dated workshop at a jewelry studio. It is not a club and not a supplier.

Notes

Date and price (studio booking page, rendered 2026-10-13): Sunday, November 8th, 2026, 9:00 AM Eastern, “8 hours @ $100.00”, with “4 spots left”. The description adds “$100 + $0-$15 in materials”. The booking system lists the class size as 6 and files it under “Guest Instructors”. No end time is printed; 9 a.m. plus 8 hours would be about 5 p.m. (calculated).
No other cabochon date was posted, and none for 2027.
Address conflict: the site footer still prints an older address, 191 Lyman St #262, Asheville. The Location, Contact and About pages all say the studio is now downtown at 84 Walnut St, Unit A, and that address is used here.
The class description’s spellings “plishing” and “cabachon” are quoted as printed.
NC already has Sawtooth (Winston-Salem) and the NC State Crafts Center (Raleigh). This is the first western North Carolina listing. Today’s other two picks are in CT and OK.
Photo: the studio’s own header logo, IGNITE color.jpg (Squarespace serves it as WebP at ?format=1500w), 1500 × 797, saved as JPEG.
Not affiliated with Lapidary Plaza.
No Lapidary Plaza contact, booking, purchase, form submission or publication action was taken.

FAQ

Q: When is the next cabochon workshop at Ignite Jewelry Studios?
A: Sunday, November 8, 2026, starting at 9:00 a.m. Eastern. It runs 8 hours. The booking page showed 4 spots left on 2026-10-13.

Q: How much does it cost?
A: $100, plus $0–$15 for materials depending on the rough you use.

Q: Do I need experience?
A: No. It’s a basics class covering rough selection, cutting, shaping and polishing on a Cab King machine.

Q: What do I take home?
A: A finished cabochon you cut during the workshop.

Q: Where is it?
A: At Ignite Jewelry Studios, 84 Walnut St, Unit A, downtown Asheville, NC, above the Harrah’s and Rankin parking garages.