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.

Gemstones are used at a large scale in the production of various fascinating jewelry items since they are considered as captivating and elegant piece that can be fixed prudently in jewelry.

It is also believed that most of the gemstones possess certain religious as well as medicinal values. The most interesting fact about gemstones is that each calendar month is associated with a specific gemstone, known as the birthstone of the month. Several silver gemstone jewelry are fashioned and marketed on the basis of these beliefs.
Here you get a glimpse of some of the famous gemstones used in silver gemstone jewelry and their importance.
Garnet is the birthstone of January and this very pretty stone represents fidelity and commitment.
Amethyst is considered as the birthstone of February. Silver jewelry embedded with Amethyst is very special to wear often because this gemstone associated with piety, spirituality, and its power to restore tranquility.
Aquamarine, another powerful gemstone, is believed to have the ability to help digestion and bring relief to people who depend upon drugs for their ailments. Aquamarine, the birthstone of March is believed to have the power to lessen anger and remove unwanted thoughts.
Diamond, the brilliant gemstone, is the birthstone of April. This gem is popularly considered as a girl’s dearest friend’ and as being ‘forever’. The diamonds represent eternal love and beauty and are associated with reliability and longevity. Indians prefer to wear gold or silver rings studded with diamonds on their fingers for these benefits.
Jewelry made of gorgeous gemstone Emerald, the birthstone of May, is believed to bring wisdom, growth and patience.
The birthstone of June, Pearl, is elegant and a symbol of purity and refinement.
Gemstone jewelry, decorated with Ruby, is very popular with the belief that if worn on the left hand, it will bring good luck. This is the birthstone of July.
Peridot is the birthstone of August. There is a belief that this gem has the power to ward off evil and can cure asthma. Silver as well as other metal ornaments set with Peridot gemstone represent fame and strength.
Sapphire, the birthstone of September, is a symbol of sincerity and faithfulness and is believed that it has the power to remove envy and restore fidelity.
The pretty gemstone Opal is the birthstone of October and is supposed to be the symbol of confidence and faithfulness.
Jewelry adorned with Citrine is worn by people to enhance self-confidence and creativity. It is believed that this birthstone of November can remove toxins from the body.
Turquoise is beautiful and is the birthstone of the last month December. This is considered as a holy gemstone because the jewelry set with this gemstone is supposed to promote mental and spiritual clarity. Moreover this is a good luck charm.

From primitive ages men and women used to adorn themselves with beautiful handmade ornaments with the materials available to make trinkets embellished with stones, bones, and other organic material they got easily.

As they make improvements in tools, discover new better metals and stones and grow in skills, today they create more versatile and intricately designed jewelry, one best example being Silver Gemstone Jewelry.
Silver Jewelry
The metal silver is used in the production of various types of jewelry, chunky and bold pieces and also delicate and elegant ornaments. Silver jewelry is normally gold plated and also often embossed and engraved. Beautiful and intricate designs, sometimes, are crafted in separate silver pieces and then joined to bring out enchanting jewelry. When silver jewelry is embellished with attractive gemstones it becomes Silver Gemstone Jewelry. These gemstones help the purely silver trinket to enhance its beauty by lending their vibrant colors and cheer.
A gemstone is always valued with its beauty of cut, color and capacity to refract light. Based on these properties these have been classified into precious (cardinal) and semi-precious gemstones. So the cost of silver gemstone jewelry, naturally, depends on the type and value of the gemstone used to decorate it.
Though around 130 minerals are cut into gems and nearly 50 of these are used in gemstone jewelry and for various other purposes only the diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald and amethyst are considered as the most precious traditional gemstones. Modern gem has included certain organic materials too, such as pearl, ivory, coral, bone, amber, ammolite, jet etc…etc…
Silver gemstone jewelry is very popular among people of all ages and all countries. People wear these ornaments casually as well as on all formal occasions. No wonder, silver earrings, necklaces, pendants, bracelets, brooches, anklets, rings and other ornaments embellished with the charming gemstones are so loved and every one is too crazy to possess at least one of these.
Everyone has a desire to own a gemstone due to its various intrinsic qualities. To make the gemstone jewelry more beautiful and attractive they are given various finishes, to name some rustic, antique, hammered, polished etc. Gemstone jewelry is largely considered as a dedicated art since it requires tremendous skills and craftsmanship. Gemstones could be used in a traditional style with a modern contemporary twist making it more wearable and thus enhancing one’s personality more and more.

The people of Gujarat state in India are very much noted for their business skills. Broach, an ancient Gujarat port situated on the Cambay Gulf, was an important bisector of the business route to China, Greece,’ Portugal and Persia. Broach played a significant role in the trade and movement of Mughal jewelry, gold, silver, ivory,

pearl, textiles, gemstones and coral to these foreign countries. This advantage helped Broach gradually develop as a hub for stone cutters, artisans and carvers for nearly thousand years. Even today you can see a sizeable diamond cutting factories in some Gujarati cities like Surat, Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar and Navasari. These small scale cutting houses have around 800,000 employees to cut and polish 80—90% of world’s whole diamond production.
As a gesture of gratitude to tribal jewelry and accessories many Gujarati ladies wear key-ring holder an their waist usually made of silver. Jewelry like mangal sutra (a chain tied around the neck by the husband on the wedding day), earrings, necklace, rings and bangles are also very popular among Gujarati women.
Modern jewelry designers have revived the age-old popular tribal jewelry, known as Pachchikam, mostly crafted in Kutch and Gujarat and made this one of the latest fashion statements. The artistic tribal jewelry Pachchikam is slowly replacing gold jewelries. The craftsmen in Gujarat and Kutch prepare this form of jewelry buy cutting semi-precious stones. Some sort of glasswork also is needed in the preparation. Only the few families, who have attained specialization in this type of artwork through their ancestors, can do the fabrication of this jewelry. In the normal course each piece requires 1-2 months to prepare due to the typical climatic constraints.
Other type of traditional jewelry made in Gujarat out of agate, bead and silver are very famous as the exquisite tribal jewelry. Ornaments like ear rings, bangles, nose rings, necklaces etc. are crafted locally and sold out all over the state. Silver-bars are locally procured and later transformed into sheets and wires from which various enchanting silver ornaments are made.
Bhuj, Anjar and Mundra in Kutch district are the main hub of silver jewelry work and Porbandar, Surendranagar, Ahmedabad and Jamnagar in Gujarat also bears a long tradition of supplying excellent silversmiths, who show great skill in creating stunning silver jewelry,. As Tribal Jewelry is a part of Gujarat’s traditional jewelry this work is still done with great care and in styles centuries after centuries using beads, zari, lac etc and this age old tribal ornaments are in great demand among women.