Gem with inlay carved evenly (5)
I believe the answer is:
nacre
'gem' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both substances as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I can't see?
'inlay carved evenly' is the wordplay.
'evenly' means one should take alternating letters (the letters in even-numbered positions).
'inlay'+'carved'='inlaycarved'
The alternate letters of 'inlaycarved' are 'NACRE'.
'with' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for nacre that I've seen before include "valuable material" , "Mother-of-pearl from shellfish" , "inside of shell" , "Mother-of-pearl - crane (anag)" , "Mother of pearl" .)