If I make a polymer raised oval - I guess like a cabuchon and want to mount it in a metal finding so that it can hang from a chain, does it have to be baked and then glued into the mouont, or can it be made and fitted into the mount and then baked with the metal?

I would like to do it with both a style of mounting that is solid on the bottom, so that only the top of  the polymer shows  or one that is just an open oval, so the the caly can be made tow side, and either side would show.

I'm assuming such an item exists, but since I dont know what to call it, I do not know how to search for it to find a vendor. I tried local bead supply stores but the have nothing like that.

 The main thing to bear in mind is that the PC won't stick to the metal, so it has to be "entrapped" somehow in order to be durable -- or else you need to glue after baking.  In either case, I think it is probably better to bake the clay with the metal, but if it isn't geometrically wedged solid to the clay, you would then need to separate the pieces and glue.

 That said, I have wire shapes embedded on a clay backing with minimal overlap of the clay over the metal and it has proven much more durable without glueing than I had feared.