If you have grown up on stories of rajkumaras and rajkumaris and dream of a royal Indian wedding, Kundan and Polki are sure to capture your imagination! Kundan/Polki jewellery is traditional, royal, elite and a great reminder of India’s rich heritage. The process of making Kundan and Polki jewellery is extremely intricate and time-consuming and requires great skill and craftsmanship. Thousands of years old, the art of Kundan/Jadau jewellery comes from the grandeur of the Mughal era. These days, Kundan and Polki are both popular choices for brides who wish to look traditional and regal on their wedding day. Since we are always asked about what this form of jewellery all about, we went straight to the experts and tried to understand this form of jewellery better.
What is the difference between Kundan and Polki?
Kundan and Polki are both stones. Polki jewellery is made of unfinished natural diamonds. Polki is essentially an uncut diamond that is mined from the earth in a natural way without any enhancement or lab creation. Polki is always in great demand and highly valued because of its natural form. It is also much shinier and much more expensive than Kundan jewellery. Kundan is made of glass stone (glass polki).
Polki was introduced in India by the Moghuls, while Kundan is a traditional Rajasthani style of jewellery.
What is the technique used to make Kundan and Polki jewellery?
The technique of making Kundan and Polki jewellery is more or less the same. Flat or uncut stones are set on 24 carat gold jewellery using lac and fine pure gold foils. Polki jewellery is made with a gold foil at the back that has been painted to place the diamonds in between with uncut diamonds reflecting light. Kundan jewellery is extremely elaborate with layers upon layers of stone and precious metals and intricate joint work. The undersides of these pieces are enamelled.
Does Kundan/ Polki jewellery look good with gemstones?
Indeed! While Kundan and Polki have elaborate meenakari and enamel work done on them in varying colours, this form of jewellery also looks great with uncut rubies, sapphires and even emeralds.
What jewelry pieces look great in Kundan/Polki?
For your wedding day you can go for a heavy choker or elaborate necklace in Kundan/Polki. If you don’t want something very traditional and heavy, you can wear large chandelier shaped Kundan earrings or a beautiful dainty maang-tika or even a gorgeous stand alone statement piece like a bracelet. Chandbalis in Kundan/Polki is the hottest jewellery trend of 2018, replacing the much loved jhumkis in this wedding season.
How is Kundan/polki jewelry priced?
Every piece of Polki is priced according to its carat, cut, clarity and colour (Just like Diamond jewellery, as it is essentially diamonds in natural form). A polki choker can range from anywhere between Rs 4- 15 Lakhs and beyond depending on the number of diamonds used and their quality. The value of Polki jewellery is very high as compared to Kundan jewellery and so is its sparkle.
Then what is Meenakari and Jadau?
Jadau is very wrongly misinterpreted and people think it is a form of jewellery. Well actually it is a technique used in making Kundan and Polki jewellery. So while Kundan and Polki are stones, Jadau is a technique used to make Kundan/Polki jewellery.
Meenakari is a colourful style of jewellery that flourished during the Mughal era, and was hugely popular with Rajasthan royalty. It is the art of colouring and ornamenting the surface of metals by fusing over it brilliant colours that are decorated in an intricate design. Over the centuries, Meenakari was combined with the traditional Rajasthani Kundan style of jewellery. The result was undan-Meena jewellery, and it takes twice as many adjectives to describe it.
Interested in buying Kundan/Polki jewellery? Visit us at our showroom in Vashi, Navi Mumbai today.
