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Kundan - Jewellery fit for a Queen!
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The Royal Maharajas of India and their Ranis lived lives fit for... well, Kings! The art of making Kundan Jewellery found great patronage during the Mughal Era and some of the world's most mersmerising pieces of jewellery were created in those times. India was often called the "Golden Bird" thanks to the availability of the precious metal as well as its mystical usage in the creation of fascinating ornaments.
Kundan Jewellery is one of the oldest forms of jewellery making. It is made and worn in India, specifically around Jaipur and Bikaner, in 24 carat pure gold. Kundan is a method of gem setting, consisting of inserting a gold foil between the stones and its mount.
The purest, softest gold is hammered into very fine sheets and literally mounded around the stones to encase them and hold them in place. Light strikes the precious stones only from above dulling their shine. So, to provide depth and refraction a piece of gold or silver foil is placed under the stone making it glow.
Benefits:
- As compared to the Western-style bezel or claw setting, Kundan gives the craftsman the freedom to use irregular shapes and sizes. Thus the time and labour needed to create each setting separately to the size of the stone is saved.
- A stone thus needs to be only minimally sized and can retain its original look.
- Additionally, Kundan enables work to be carried out without soldering or applying heat. The Gold or Silver in which the Kundan is embedded is soft enough that the stones can be encased simply by pressing them.
The Process Of Kundan Making
The Enamellings Process itself needs an entire team of specialist to all pool in their various skills. First, the designer selects a design as per the client's requirements and passes it to the goldsmith. The Goldsmith creates the gold stencil and gives it back to the designer who outlines the pattern on the gold surface and burnishes it, to make it stand out.
Now the engraver comes into the picture. His is the job which requires maximum skill and precision. Champleve - is a technique used by the engraver to lower those areas of the metal that will take the enamel by carving them out. These lowered surfaces are hatched with fine parallel lines to enable thorough fusion between colour and metal, to add to the visual delight as the hatchings enchance the play of light over the transparent colours.
The Meenakar or enameller is the next in line. He fills in the enamel colours in the lowered surfaces, thereby evening the surface and fusing it to the gold with repeated firings. Since the enamels are of varying hardness and thus require different temperatures for fusing, they must be fired separately - that from hardest highest temperature to softest lowest temperature. Cooling is as important as heating: a flow at this stage could crack the enamel or render it undesirably opaque.
The usual colour sequence begins with white and runs through blue, green, black and yellow before reaching red, rich ruby the signature colour of Jaipur enamelling. It achieves an unmatched brilliance and clarity. "The purer the gold, the richer the colour," goes an old saying, and the red Meena of Jaipur is applied only to a high karat gold.
Once the enamelling has been completed the surfaces must be polished. The kundan setter then asks the Patua or stringer, to thread the pieces with strings and make them a ready-to-wear stunning piece of art!
Today the finest Kundan jewellery is made in Bikaner & Jaipur, in Rajasthan. The Historical significance associated with this jewellery, that it was once worn by only Kings and Queens, is what makes it so attractive. As those who have it will tell you, Kundan jewellery, like wine only gets better with time.
Despite the trend for fusion and IndoWestern jewellery in our culture, on occasions like Wedding and Festivals, Indian women prefer the traditional and the Royal Ethnic look - Kundan it is!
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