That is why I mentioned that I have a hard time believing that heat was not used at all.
Thus I agree with Shakethetrees on everything he said. Notice too that in the jade example pictured where all the pieces and gold was stripped, there are small holes in the grooves. These are for the pounded gold to fill and grip the gold, holding it better in place as well as the undercut grooves.
This is not too unlike what is done to inlay steel. I under cut the inlay grooves in the steel so that they may "catch" the softer metal and hold it in place (like what Shakethetrees mentioned).
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