I was just gifted a lovely amber bead that is broken in half - so now I am interested in a way to repair it. In looking at pictures of traditional repairs - such as the one in this picture - I can't easily figure out how the wire zig-zags or curly-cues were applied. Does anyone know how this was done? Were the wires heated and then pressed into the amber? Was a groove carved in the surface first, and glue used to secure the wire?

Any ideas would be welcomed - and I plan to try some of them in advance on other small pieces of amber before attempting the final repair.