Amber can sometimes be found with included insects. An important mineral species that includes varieties such as aquamarine, emerald , heliodor, morganite, and goshenite. A thin strip of metal used to surround and secure a gemstone on a piece of jewelry. Also refers to the sloping facets between the girdle and the table of a brilliant cut gemstone. A gemstone fashioned with a domed or convex, smooth surface.
Cabochons can be any basic shape, round being the most common.
See the JPEG in the moonstone entry in this glossary for a good example of a cabochon. Not to be confused with karat. As in lost wax casting, a manufacturing technique that reproduces an object in metal from a wax model. The wax model is encased in a special plaster. A good example of a cryptocrystalline quartz would be any member of the agate family.