Madagascar is very rich in precious and semi-precious stones. The stones were originally carved to make tools and weapons. The craft then evolved towards producing ornamental stones (jewels) and sculptures.

There are two techniques for carving :

• Cabochon : it is a stone which, once carved, is rounded at the top. This technique is best for bringing out colours and impressions of opaque stones such as jasper, amazonite or septarian ;

• Facetting : stones carved in facets have a series of flat and polished surfaces. This technique allows to reflect the light in an incredible way and thus gives the shine and shimmering quality to transparent or translucent stones such as quartz, ruby, sapphire, emerald or agate.