Indian Accessories

Pakistani traditional jewelry is a blend of tradition, latest designs and techniques. Pakistani women have a great passion for jewelry and all women wear them, even males sometimes, irrespective of their place in the society.

For them it is a source
of communication of a message of love, hatred, power, marriage and hierarchy. The rich Pakistani women wear gold ornaments studded with gemstones like diamond, rubies, emerald and pearls. Middle class less wealthy people go foe gold adorned with less precious stones while the poor wear jewelry of silver or other inferior metals.

The Pakistani jewelry is a perfect combination of ancient Mughal and latest modern jewelry. Pakistan was described as a “treasure trove” having its rivers full of stones. The wealth in natural resources coupled with the love of ornamentation resulted in the richness of jewelry worn by men and women from the ancient times. The Mughal emperors showed particular interest in increasing the collection of fine jewelry.

In Pakistan you can see even a poor person wearing at least earrings that might be gold or look like gold. Costly ornaments are not at all a ceremonial symbol in Pakistan, but are used on a large scale in big ceremonies like weddings when the bride is adorned with rich jewelry. In the Pakistan tradition jewelry pieces are worn by married women while widows never wear any form of jewelry.

Pakistani traditional jewelry is timeless and handcrafted to withstand everyday use and so fabricated from heavy metals. Present city women prefer to wear silver trinkets and seeing the growing popularity of silver jewelry the city shops copy each gold piece in silver as well.

The art of making fine jewelry is done by a special caste of people known as “sonars”. This skill and expertise is handed down from generation to generation. Their skill is visible in their ability to accommodate two gems or stones of different shapes in such a manner that you cannot differentiate them with a naked eye.
The most popular technique used by the jewelers is “Kundan” introduced by the Mughals in the 16th century. The Kundan is a complicated technique used for crafting very delicate jewel pieces. The Kundan jewelry is very famous for its beautiful craftsmanship.

Jewelry plays an important role in a Pakistani wedding, In addition to the usual sophisticated pieces worn on neck and hands the brides wear ‘nath’ a nose ring and ‘tikka’ similar to a pendant hanging on the forehead of the bride to enhance her beauty. The modern Pakistani bride opts for necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings are designed in the latest trends.

Though ancient Indians from the Indus Valley Civilization used to adorn themselves with various kinds of ornaments, Indian jewelry designs using precious stones and pearls along with gold and silver saw its blossoming only during the

Mughal period in the 16th to 19th centuries. Indian arts, especially miniature paintings depicting exquisite pieces of richly carved jewelry with beautiful embellishments hold testimony to the enormous wealth and resources of the Indian royal families. The jewelry designers got their models from the various facets of nature including mango fruit, cobra hood, rice gram, cucumber seeds etc, The famous paisley motif, an example, found in the traditional Indian jewelry design, is a pure representation of the mango fruit, Many Indian kings of the late 19th century brought out exceptionally unique ornaments with the help of famous European designers, Van Clef and Carter, using colorful gems for an added rich look.
Indian art and culture show traces of various rulers and religions, over the past many years, selecting the best from them, at the same time retaining its uniqueness. You can find a variety of Indian jewelry design, each representing a particular region. The popular fine filigree work, typical of the Indian states Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, needs a lot of patience and time to complete since the designs are very complex. This design is done with entwined silver or gold threads. The metal threads are plaited very carefully and slowly and fixed to the underlying metal groundwork by soldering.
Temple Jewelry, also known as Kemp set, is mainly worn by Indian classical dancers especially Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi dancers from South India. These traditional jewelry pieces are made of pure silver, dipped in gold and embellished with gem stones. Certain professional craftsmen take one month to a year depending upon the design to complete the whole set of jewelry for ears, feet, waist, nose, hands, fingers, legs and neck. In olden times this temple jewelry, made of pure gold with a combination of rubies, emeralds, diamonds, pearls and sapphires, was worn by temple dancers called Devadasis. This traditional jewelry is also worn by South Indian brides and in important functions and parties.
Minakari or enameling jewelry, born out of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan’s great vision, is a unique combination of gems, enameling pigments and precious stones. Each special design is arranged in a peculiar way that the gems and stones also sparkle along with the enameling light of the ornaments. These are usually expensive and available as necklaces, rings, earrings and a whole set.

From the very ancient history Indian women have attached special importance to jewelry. Various types of jewelry give them marital status, as bangles for Punjabi brides, the traditional mangal sutra for Maharashtrians and South Indians or rings for others.

For an Indian woman Jewelry is the most important accessory to beautify her, especially when attending marriages and important religious functions. Therefore jewelry to decorate each part of her body forms an integral part of her wardrobe. Her love for gold ornaments is also not a secret.
India tops in the consumption of gold jewelry in the world. It is true that during an Indian wedding exchanging gold jewelry between both parties has become a formal practice. Since gold is one of the finest metals it is used in designing and manufacturing dazzling trinkets and gold trinkets produce the premium outlooks for ornaments.
Various kinds of necklaces, finger rings, nose rings, pendants and earrings are some of the common ornaments made out of gold kept by Indian families. Due to the increasing popularity of the gold the marker is forced to hike the prices of gold jewelry. This is a major issue with most of Indian families and today’s investors are keen to invest in gold all over the world. Moreover in the times of financial crisis gold comes as a financier and helps to tide over it. Thus gold plays the part of a decorator as well as a supporter.
People like gold jewelry for its unique styles, designs and brightness and are using for long since the ancient traditional times. In those golden days gold was considered as a symbol of royalty and wealth and the richness was measured by the quality and quantity of gold jewelry one used to wear.
Gold is the finest and the most precious metal in this world because gold jewelry with countless unique designs and styles are available in the market. Though you can find the best and the beautiful piece of gold from a large collection of jewelry, better seek the advice of friends or family members to locate the best jewelry stores that will show you some of the attractive designs to make the purchase. Indian jewelers have mastered the technique of making the finest gold trinkets and you can find at their showrooms a very large collection of various dazzling gold ornaments in eye catching designs and styles

Indian Jewelry is very special and unique characterized by its elegant simplicity and superb craftsmanship. Each part of India produces particular types of jewelry out of different metals and each exhibits its own splendor and charm.

The northernmost state Kashmir brings out rings, chokers, bracelets and earrings made out of blackened silver and polished brass and embedded with semi-precious stones. Tiger stone, coral, turquoise and jade in stained pink, amber and green are also available and these reflect the beauty of the sunset, flowers and trees of the Kashmir Valley. Elephant tusks were mainly imported from East Africa to be carved into marvelous earrings, necklaces and bangles.
Rajasthan State offers brightly colored, light and delicately chased lacquer bangles that bring a dash of colors from their rainbow hues. Also available are bangles having small beads and mirrors studded in the lacquer, which shine and sparkle with every turn of the wrist. Menakari, a form of gold jewelry from Rajasthan is studded with precious gemstones that are later enameled with gold. Magnificent Kundan jewelry is yet another famous art from Rajasthan. Kundan, a semi precious opaque crystal is shaped individually and then soldered and inserted into a dazzling stone.
We get a variety of silver articles from Indian coastal areas such as heavy pieces of silver jewels from Maharashtra and dainty filigree in leaf, star and flower patterns from Orissa. Delhi’s heavy silver bracelets, necklaces, rings and lockets with delicately carved traditional patterns like the paisley leaf, the lotus, the almond, and the mango are in great demand. Andhra Pradesh produces very popular cuff-links, buttons, and earrings of silver embedded in oxidized black metal.
The best Terracotta jewelry found in West Bengal is made from clay with engraved designs. Splendid necklaces, rings, bracelets, anklets, pendants, bangles, and other trinkets are made out of terracotta for women. West Bengal is also famous for Navaratna jewelry, a necklace of nine gems. The nine stones strung together are considered to bring wealth and prosperity to wearer and it protects from various diseases and danger.
South Indian states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu offer temple jewelry made of 22-karat gold and studded with precious stones. In southern India you get ethnic jewelry like Mangamalai, Khasumalai and Mullaimottumalai made of pure gold. The word manga means mango and malai, chain. Thus Mangamalai is a gold chain having small shaped mangoes joined together. In the same way Khasu means coins and Mullaimottu, jasmine buds. Hyderabad is famous for necklaces, bracelets, earrings, bangles and other ornaments studded with various colored pearls.