Pre-cut inlays circle mother of pearl abalone

Mother-of-pearl is the iridescent inner lining of certain mollusk shells, biosynthesized by the mantle and composed of aragonite crystals. It has long been sought after for decoration, marquetry, jewelry making, or button crafting, to the point that some shellfish such as abalones have locally disappeared.

Abalone is the English name for haliotis (or abalone), a marine mollusk, also known as "sea ear".