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  Kundan jewellery is one of the
oldest forms of jewellery which is
made in one of the purest form of
gold that is 24 carat gold.Kundan
is a traditional Indian gemstone
jewelry, a method of gem setting
in a jewellery piece, consisting of
inserting gold foil between the
stones and it’s mount, usually
used to create elaborate necklaces
believed to have originate in royal
courts of Rajasthan and Gujarat.
It is the oldest form of jewellery
made and worn in India.
N A Traditional kundan jewellery has
E E stones encrusted on one side and
M Y colourful and intricate meenakari

A N ER on the reverse. This was done to

N D E L L enhance the look of the piece.

Kundan jewellery received great
K U W patronage during the mugal era
J E and the most beautiful pieces
were created in those times.
Jadau Jewellery is one of the most oldest form of
jewellery known in India.
Jadau Jewellery is also the only jewellery which is totally
Handmade and Handcrafted by old craftsmen of India.
The integrated designs in Jadau Jewellery are all
inspired from nature, like flowers, leaves, birds etc…
Jadau jewellery uses the purest form of Gold Foil in its
setting, i.e 24ct Gold, known as Kundan.
Jadau Jewellery first came into existance with the
mughals in India.
First the gold is beaten to make it soft and then it is
passed through a machine which is still being run by
humans, i.e no electricity or other power used in
running the machine.
The machine runs by one man rotating its wheel, as a
result the rollers in the center of the machine start
moving, this is where the actual process starts.
The beaten soft 22ct Gold is passed through the
machine to make a flat sheet out of it(known as
patraa in hindi).
Then the obtained sheet is pressed and compressed
again and again till the person gets the desired
thickness and wideness of the sheet.
After the gold sheet(patra) has been prepared, the
next step comes to shape the frame of the Jewellery.
Now it has to be decided that what has to be made?
A pendent, Earrings, Necklace….
After deciding what to make then shape is given to
the gold sheet and then shapes are being made by
bending and streching the the gold sheet, by hand
and twissers.
All the shapes used in Jadau Jewellery are being
prepared by hand like leafs, flowers, birds etc.
Thus these shaped designs are known as side walls of
the pendant(jae in hindi)
The next step to making Jadau Jewellery is to getting
all things together, i.e. when the base gold sheet
(patra), is ready, side walls (jae) are ready in desired
design, they now have to be soldered all together to
get a shape of a Jewellery.
With the help of gold only, gold sheet is soldered with
side walls by giving heat to it with same old
traditional methods of blowing fire by a bended pipe
from the lighter.
After soldering is been done now cleaning is being
done.
The cleaning of the Gold Base been made is done by
selective chemicals to remove the blackness happened
due to soldering.
Thus after cleaning with chemical, it is being washed
by water and left to dry.
A single piece of Kundan
jewelry is done by different
artisans. The chiterias do the
work of basic designing of the
jewelry, engraving work is
carried out be ghaarias, the
enameling work is done be the
enameler, the goldsmith looks
after the gold or kundan work
and finally stone setters do
work of just setting the
precious stone in the holes of
the jewelry. Different precious
stones which can be
incorporated in kundan jewelry
comprise of agate, garnet,
emerald, topaz, amethyst, jade,
rock crystal, spinel, uncut
diamonds, sapphires etc.
After Base is being made ready with 22Ct. Gold, it is
now given to the setter( Jadiya in hindi), to set the
stones
For setting stones first step is to fill the base with
Laakh,
Laakh is heated to the temperature till it comes in
semi liquid form, then poured into the base, thus now
laakh is left to set in the base when it cool downs.
Now stones which are to be setted in the Jewellery are
being prepared respectively.
Diamonds are prepared with fixing silver foil behind
them, as the diamonds used in Jadau Jewellery are
flat diamonds(uncut diamonds, (also knowan as Polki
diamonds)).
The silver foil been fixed behind diamond is known as
Daank in hindi, the daank gives the Diamond a extra
sheer and shine. Which compliments the jewellery
when it is ready.
Similarly all the other colour stones being used are
fixed with using colour foil behind them to give them
extra sheer and shine.
JADAI
Now stones are fixed on laakh filled base with
applying some heat on top of the stone with a
burnt coal being applied.
After the stones get a bit of grip then the turn
comes of Kundan (24 Ct. Gold foil).
The kundan is now fixed on sides of stones with
the help of small pen like iron sticks (known as
Salaai in hindi)
Kundan is being inserted into the sides of stones
until it achieves a strong hold and looks strong.
After Kundan being fully inserted into sides, now the
turn comes of making the kundan look neat by
scrapping it from sides.(known as chilai in hindi).
The scrapping can be simple like plain borders or also
can be very intregated with motives of flowers and
birds on it.
After all this is done the Jadai process is now
complete.
Thus now we have our Jadau Jewellery ready in our
hand after a long handwork efforts of different people.
KUNDAN MEENA JEWELLRY
FROM JAIPUR
 Kundan and jadau jewellery forms which incorporate the open
cutting of gems into 24 carat gold settings are exquisitely
crafted by jaipur’s jewellers into a range of old style necklaces,
rings and earrings.Enamelling or minakari work involves a
laborious process wherein the piece is fixed on a stick of lacquer
and delicate floral designs engraved on it.
 Part of the mugal jewellery heritage the kundan craft has uncut
stones set in open lacy work. The hollows in which the stones
are set are filled with pure gold. In jadau the techniques of both
kundan and enamelling are combined so that a piece of
jewellery has equally beautiful surfaces; kundan set in gems in
front and exquisite enamel work on the reverse.
 Priceless kundan jewellery is handcrafted in Jaipur wheras the
best jadau work is done both in Jaipur and in Varanasi.
 RI
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 Enameling is the art of colorings or decorating a metal surface by attaching or

fusing pieces of different mineral substances, over it. Enameling is considered
the most alluring and technical of all metal decorations. In the past enameling
was only done on gold, but presently it is done other metals like silver, copper etc
The art of decorating metal with technique of Meenakari requires a high degree
of skill and application. The piece of metal on which meenakari is to be done is
fixed on a lac stick. Delicate designs of flowers, birds, fish etc are etched or
engraved on it. This leads to the creation of walls or grooves, to hold color.
Enamel dust of required color is then poured into the grooves and each color is
fired individually. The heat of the furnace melts the color and the coloured liquid
gets spread equally into the groove.
  This process is repeated with each colour.As each color is
individually fired, colors, which are most heat resistant, are
applied first, as they are re-fired with each additional color. As a
rule, white is the first color applied, and red the last.After the last
color has been fired, the object is cooled and burnished or polished
with agate. The depth of the grooves filled with different colors
determines the play of light.Both Silver and Gold can be used as a
base for meenakari. A limited number of colors, like gold, blue,
green and yellow, stick to silver, whereas all available colors can be
applied to gold, making it the preferred medium of enamellers. The
meenakar often works with a team of craftsmen. As meenakari is
generally done on the reverse side of kundan jewellery, the
meenakar has to work with the goldsmith, the engraver or ghaaria,
the designer or chitteria and jadiya who applies the gems on the
kundan or gold. The finished produced is a marvel of the expertise
of these different craftsmen and their techniques.Jaipur is the main
center of meenakari..
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. Champlevé - 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
color and metal, to add to the visual delight as the hatchings enhance
the play of light over the transparent colors. The Meenakar or
enameller is the next in line. He fills in the enamel colors 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 color sequence begins with white and runs through blue,
green, black and yellow before reaching red, rich ruby the signature
color of Jaipur enameling. It achieves an unmatched brilliance and
clarity. "The purer the gold, the richer the color," goes an old saying,
and the red Meena of Jaipur is applied only to a high karat gold.
Once the enameling 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!
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