Types of Indian Jewellery
What Are The Different Types of Indian Jewellery?
Indian women love to adorn their necklaces with beautiful and intricate Indian jewellery that is known for its versatility, designs, and colors. The tradition of women wearing Indian jewellery with pride can be dated back to 5000 years ago. Ever since Indus Valley Civilization, Indian jewellery has experienced revolutionary changes and it’s now designed using modern techniques.
No wedding dress is complete without gorgeous Indian jewellery. Every jewellery is designed by keeping in mind the theme and color to match a particular occasion. We’ll delve into the different types of Indian Jewellery that are popular but first let’s take a look at the materials used in different jewellery types.
- Gemstones
Gems are an integral part of Indian Jewellery. From simple ruby rings to detailed and heavily embellished jewellery sets, every girl has a love affair with gems. Gemstones are also known for their healing powers and each type of gemstone symbolizes optimism, joy, and blessing. Sapphire, emerald, ruby, turquoise, and jade are some of the widely popular gemstones used in ornaments.
- Pearls
Pearls are used in combination with gemstones to create magical and detailed jewellery pieces. Whether it’s a simple pearl pendant or heavy pearl necklace for a wedding, you can never go wrong with it.
- Gold
Gold jewellery is undoubtedly one of the popular metals used to make Indian jewellery – thanks to the non-tarnishing and durable properties of gold. It’s considered precious and valuable for women. Hindus have a firm belief that gold can purify any surface that it toucheThere is a wide range of Indian Jewellery. We’ll cover some of the popular varieties of Indian Jewellery below:
- Kundan Jewellery
The term “Kundan” refers to pure and refined gold which is combined with pieces of glass and gemstones to create beautiful jewellery sets that aren’t any lesser than a piece of art.
Expensive Kundan pieces make use of real stones, pearls, and gold, making them a piece of perfect bridal jewellery. Light Kundan jewellery uses alternative materials like silver, steel, faux gemstones, and brass.
What makes Kundan Jewellery a distinguishing piece of art is the fact that it has layers of stones and each stone is mounted into gold foil which defines its shape and makes it separate from other stones. The back frame of the Kundan Jewellery has intricate designs made from enamel in different colors.
Indian women love to style their Kundan jewellery with their wedding attire. Every mother gifts Kundan jewellery to their daughter as a trousseau.
- Meenakari Jewellery
Meenakari jewellery is a wonderful piece of art that originated in Persia and later became popular in the subcontinent. The enamelling was done to check the purity of gold because there is a saying that goes like: “purer the gold is, brighter will be the enamel”
The enamel technique is used to engrave the jewellery pieces with colourful enamels. Beautiful stones/pearls/diamonds are embedded on the coloured glass having attractive motif designs. When you look closely at the meenakari piece, you’ll notice the mesmerizing enamel artwork that can catch anyone’s attention.
Meenakari isn’t only used to make contemporary jewellery, but also decorations like bowls, walls, and many more.
- Polki Jewellery
Polki Jewellery is founded by the Mughals and has its origins from Gujarat and Rajasthan. Polki is an unprocessed and uncut diamond that is in its natural form. They are much more valuable than Kundan jewellery due to the amount of gold and diamond used. The Jadau technique is used to add polki diamonds to the pieces i.e the diamonds are engraved into silver or gold foil, giving it a shinier appearance.
Polki jewellery also uses gemstones and meenakari work on the backside. While Gold remains one of the valuable metal, a person having polka jewellery in possession is considered to be high in status and wealth. The jewellery holds value and are passed down by the owner to the future generations.