KUNDAN JEWELERY IN INDIA

INDIAN WOMAN AND KUNDAN JEWELERY

Since ages the women in India have loved to adorn themselves with jewelery. Jewelry holds a prominent place in a woman's life. An Indian woman loves to buy, don and preserve her jewelry and this stands true for almost every woman irrespective of her nationality and origin. The markets also prepare itself to meet up to the expectations of a woman and keep up the standards. The aura of breathtaking silver, gold and platinum jewelery is enhanced by the kundans, the precious gem stones.

HISTORY OF KUNDAN JEWELERY

The kundan style of jewelery making has been impacted by the Mughal dynasty. This art was originated as an outcome of a vision of Shah Jehan , the Mughal Emperor, and the art of enameling transmuted in the more elegant style of jewelery making. The art refers to enameling intricate combinations to make exquisite jewelery pieces. These pieces are worn as chokers (gulband) and necklaces (haar). There is a wide variety of motifs that can be seen in the jewelry pieces of kundan jewelery raging from flowers to plants, scrolling vines and animal forms.

THE ART OF KUNDAN

Anything can be made from this art of jewelery making. The enameled metal can be used variously making jewelery pieces like maang tika, earrings, nose pins and nose rings, necklaces, chokers, bangles, armlets, anklets and trinkets. The goldsmiths fashions out beautiful pieces by filling the cells with granular glasses and firing at temperatures of over 800°C. The Vitreous Enamel is a true glass fused to metal. With changing times, the techniques of enameling have also changed.

THE TRADITIONAL KUNDAN JEWELERY

The conventional kundan jewelery has stones that are encrusted on one side and vibrant peculiar meenakari on the reverse side. The adept goldsmiths skillfully set the gems and stones in rarely solid gold. He makes cuts for the gems, engraves and enamels the pieces. Lac serves as the base for these ornaments. Later he fills lac in the hollow parts and it is then visible from the front through the holes that are left for gems. The lac is covered by immensely refined gold or kundan and lacs and gems are then pushed into the kundan. A single piece of kundan jewelery is an upshot of enameler who does the enameling, the goldsmith who looks afte rthe gold, the stone setter who sets the stones as as jade, agate, garnet, emerald, rock crystal, topaz, amethyst, and spinel into kundan.

BUYING A KUNDAN JEWELERY

• Do crosscheck the ornaments as old, solid gold jewelry are at times filled as shellac.

• You can make out the old pieces by seeing the design and color. The older the piece, the more peculiar and intricate design and more vibrant the color.

• Identify the fake diamonds by seeing the surface. Pure diamonds do not have any rents, fissures, specks and scratches.

• Look for the mellow opaque appearance. If you find that in the ornament, then it is real kundan. Artificial kundan is transparent and it shimmers.

TAKE CARE OF KUNDANS

• The following tips can be useful to preserve your kundan sets and will give them a longer life:

• Wipe the jewelery with a suede cloth to restore its shine after use.

• The jewelery should be placed between layers of cotton and sealed in a plastic bag to avoid contact with oxygen.

• Kundan jewelery should never be cleaned with soap and water.

• The silk chord should be handled with care and so never be touched with wet hands as it causes discoloration of the zari.

Today Kundankari has not only find its place in the hearts of Indian women but women all across the globe. The beauty of these beautiful pieces has adorers from far and wide.

Swati