Kundan Jewellery from India

Kundan Jewelry:

One of the oldest forms of jewellery made and worn in India is the kundan jewellery. Kundan work is a method of gem setting, consisting of inserting gold foil between the stones and its mount. Kundan work is often combined with meenakari, so that a piece of jewllery has two equally beautiful surfaces, enamel at the back end and kundan set gems in the front. Meenakari involves the fusion of colored minerals, such as cobalt oxide for blue and copper oxede for green. This gives the effect of precious stone inlay work on the surface of the metal.

Jaipur is the main centre of kundan jewellery. The famous Johri bazaar is the nerve centre of this craft. Nathdwara is known for its silver kundan work. Bikaner is also known for its kundan work.

Silver Traditional Ornaments

The traditional ornaments are, by and large, of a high quality silver. Knowing the prevailing rate helps in getting the best bargain. Apart from the quality of silver and craftsmanship, prices for silver traditional ornament depend on the availability of the piece. The rarer the ornament the higher the per gram price.
Rural ornaments can be categorized into two - the old and the new. The old jewellery, which has been used shows a certain amount of petina or crust. But the used jewelllery is not necessarily of great antiquity. Since silver jewellery is constantly worn, it acquires the appearance of antiquity. On the other side certain old pieces which may have been stored and not used would appear as new. Basically the buyers should notice the style and the design to judge the authenticity of the piece. since the old ornaments fetcha a higher price and are in demand, the sellers oxidise the pieces. Unlike the real oxidation, the artificial oxidation can be washed away.

Indian Traditional Silver Jewellery

Silver jewellery has a vigour and liveliness all its own, many of its designs preserving an antique originality. If gold was the preferred metal of the affluent, silver was the staple of the rural and tribal areas. It was a means of saving money, and an indication of a person's wealth. The jewellery was a mobile "bank", serving as both adornment to be kept on the person aned a stand by in times of need. This is perhaps one reason why the jewellery appears so heavy and chunky.
Areas, and communities within areas, had their own distinctive design ocabularies, and local silversmiths fashioned the metal into beaded chokers, long ropes of chains, heavy collars, pendant boxes, a huge variety of bangles, bracelets, wristlets and amulets, nose rings and of course anklets. Of anklets alone, there is an almost bewildering range which seems to go from heavy to heaviest! So large are some anklets that you would think they make silver was studded with semi-precious stones like turquoise, coral or agate. And in the dryland of Banni in Kutch, the dun landscape is like a backdrop for some fo the most spectacular jewellery in India. Here, as elsewhere, the jewellery, the clothes, the embroideries, are all social identifiers, indicating where the woman is from to what caste she belongs and whether she is married.The irony of this poem may make you smile, but contrary to the poet's belief it is a fact that gems exert a strange magnetic pull. Jewellery exhibitions the world over attract adiences who do indeed look twice at "girl-less gems", as much for their beauty and flawlessness as for their rarity and thus value.