Unlike most hobbies, what you produce is actually worth more than the labor you put into it. Gem cutting can be done with a minimum of equipment, or an elaborate set up with enough bells and whistles to impress your most fastidious neighbors. The fundamentals, enough to do good quality work, are easy to learn. On the other hand, you will never learn everything, or run out of new challenges. There are many styles of lapidary.
Tumbling is the simplest and least expensive method.
This is where the rough material is put in a revolving barrel with abrasives. Progressively finer abrasives are used until a polish is obtained. This process closely resembles what happens to rocks in a stream or on the beach, except that the level of polish is much higher. It is often a family activity, working with stones collected on vacation. Cutting cabochons is probably the most common form of gem cutting.