Combining a continuously running tipki-kamal chain with a double bichha to form the core of the ornament, a march of elegant mangoes decorates its either side. Contrary to the square ends of most chokers, the ones here are rounded where the beaded kamal chain brackets a trio of miniature 'raatbatis', or nightlights, and its these selfsame nightlights that form the tips of the paisleys.

Now where do stone and fruit come into play in this almost monastic jewel, you'll ask. To know that you'll have to return to our this year's Poila Baisakh post where the alpana decorations were shown.

"On the facade pillars you'll find a vertical mural adapted from the carved stonework on the columns of the Konarak temple in Odisha," we'd mentioned there. More specifically, the carved stonework referenced for the alpana was from a pillar inside the 'natamandira'. That's the stone part.

The fruit's more obvious : It's mango season in India and especially in Bengal. And which other 'phal' besides the Aam could ever stake claim to the grand throne of the King of Fruits.

So here it is: a bichhey of mangoes drawn from an alpana drawn from a carving on a stone pillar inside the 'natamandira' of Konarak. It just tells you, doesn't it, that there's no cohesive plan to jewellery design, nothing deliberate and logical and technical - at least not with us. It's all impulse and intuition and an innate trust in both to bring about something magical.

What that does here is give us this very simple, very supple, very light and lovely and sweet ornament that succeeds equally as a choker and an armlet and, if you care to risk it, also a dramatic sewed-on (the Patwa can take care of that) front panel of a plain silk kurta/kurti. Not only that, the jewel's coverage is generous without taking away any of its inherent gracefulness.

Entirely handmade - each of the mangoes was cut out of sheet gold, shaped and then given a slender wire piping - and imparted a light vermilion polish, this guinea-gold jewel might well celebrate a seasonal fruit but is a goyna for all seasons, and it may include motifs from a sun temple built seven centuries ago but remains, itself shorn of any heliolatry, an unequivocally timeless design.

Lastly, it's the tiny handstruck nightlights - a vital detail meant to be sensed more than noticed - that lend the ornament its chiliastic character and bless it with a numen strong and powerful. It's the beauty within the jewel: you feel it as much as, or even more than, you see it.

But today, this aureate usherer of Basanta comes to us as a discal shrine to the season of flowers, its floriated pierced naksha heart resplendent with a trio of spring messengers and their buds that have all but taken over from a regal cosmos bloom now relegated to the bottom of the arrangement.

Four makars stand guard at the shrine, protecting it from any kind of infringement, while a ball ring around the naksha gently but effectively fences off this remarkable retreat. Below, the familiar triangulated wire (with a ball attached to each) forms a skirting and the mukto-shonar jhur completes the pendant and bestows upon it moderate merriment. The strung pearl edging adds interest and makes further regal the jewel while the turquoise thread of the torque-tassel creates contrast and draws the eye to the ornament.

All in all, an exhilarating experience, this pendant-set, the kanpashas of which are identical to the neckpiece, only smaller. Also, in the earrings, the pearl stringing is able to go all the way round, the makars having made themselves scarce.

Suffice it to say that this hand-chased, handmade, hand polished, guinea-gold pendant-set is a talismanic jewel, and one that ensures you live and love and laugh in beauty at all times, and everywhere. It is, after all, a magical messenger of spring - in summer.

Times were when the only things of regular use that could lay claim to being proudly Chinese had nothing to do with electronics or food or clothing or footwear...

Times were when the only things of regular use that could lay claim to being proudly Chinese had nothing to do with electronics or food or clothing or footwear. One was the Wing Sung pen; the other, a tiny red tin (with a pagoda on it) which contained a rather potent dark unguent and was commonly referred to as 'Tiger Balm'. The latter was a salve for everything from headaches to blocked noses while the writing instrument was perhaps the most popular among students attempting to impress with calligraphic skills rather than content in their exam papers, the nib flowing smooth and free over even the worst kind of answer sheets.

Gone are those days. Now, together with the ointment and ink-pen, most of everything's made in China and even though there are a bevy of high quality manufactures from the country, a good part of what's made there is associated with low price and commensurate quality. One fears the word 'China' to be associated with refinement. It seems not a remotely compatible match.

THE STORY OF THE CHINA ASTER

Characteristically, the China Aster is a flower now almost ubiquitous throughout the year in gardens and with florists in India (and one suspects, the world). Uniquely, it adapts to soils and temperatures in a way that ensures they're in bloom through all seasons.

On a trip to Shantiniketan recently, in the blazing heat of mid-May, the garden of our residence looked dull and metallic, so brazenly had the sun burnt through the grass and scorched the tops of the flowering shrubs. Most of the plants seemed to capitulate in the intensity of a Birbhum summer but a second glance revealed patches of brilliant colour and upright stems with fresh green leaves among the feeble surrounding foliage. The China asters were alive and bursting with vim as if renewed by the festival glare and temperatures. Alongside those hearty pink and purple blossoms and innumerable unfolding buds by the southside wall were intertwined the tiny creamy-white blooms of the Dudhibel vine which also seemed oblivious to the roasting warmth that pervaded throughout each day, its feirie flowers and leaves betraying absolutely no sign of fatigue.

The China Aster is so named because it’s native to China. It has been, after chrysanthemums and marigolds, the most popular floriculture product of our country, finding a place in arrangements, bagans, and specific landscaping all over the country. Like its eponymous country of origin, it has become a stalwart star of the commercial firmament, that too in record time, considering asters came into India in a significant way only in the mid-'80s.

A 'PHOOLER' GOYNA

It wasn't too difficult then to imagine a 'phooler goyna' made of these two determinedly hardy plants of the bagan at Shantiniketan. The aster's been given pride of place, seeing as to how the flower's taken centre-stage in the garden. Around it winds the curvy stems of the Dudhibel, its foliage rendered in pearls and turquoise while that of the aster remains chuni and mukto. The central bloom, magnificent of size and power, is realised in graduated rubies with a pearl centre and turquoise core. All other flowers are of firoza and chuni and, Oh! – lest we forget, the poisonberry clusters (they're never really poisonous though), barely visible in the real garden, are here found assisting in calibrating the spaces and adding further brightness to the ornament, every one of the orbs made of large-sized setting rubies.

Everything came together on its own: the symmetry of the vines flanking the China Aster in the middle offset capably by its own shapely stem and leaves. Also, the drop-pearl right at the bottom of the necklace completes it and adds to it a certain movement, as if it might just sway gently to a sudden zephyr wafting through a Birbhum summer's afternoon.

MADE AUREATE BY HAND

Wrought entirely by hand, and exquisitely realised in a flourish of all-pavé setting (only the baccate parts have collets), the China Aster necklace puts the country and the common decorative flower on a pedestal of beauty from where it speaks the language of resilience and loveliness and ornamentation in gold and precious gems. There's nothing here that's tawdry: the settings are meticulous; the design entirely organic and from a mind that makes the trivial monumental with the lightest of light touch so that the jewel is versatile (this one can be turned around to be worn as a mukut) and wearable and of enduring beauty and style. Of course, there's the question of feel as well: the sweet scent of the Dudhibel flowers can truly be sensed.

A CODA, FRAGRANT AND ROMANTIC.

Far removed from pens and pungent ointments, this delightful 'joroa' necklace - slowly and superbly wrought by hands accomplished in making eternal the ephemeral - puts the fragrance and romance back in 'China' and also adds a charm and certain gorgeousness to the much-seen 'Aster'.

Whether you care or not about the flower or the country, you'll likely fall in love with them both through this rare and marvellous memoriter of a jewel. Come, when you do.

Accordingly, in this jewelled pendant drawn from a 'gor-mo', or round ga'u, we see the triumvirate of pola-mukto-firoza decorate the splendid pierced-naksha foliage, with a couple of rubies (substituting for amber) included to add further colour.

The swirling stems and leaves surround an eight-petalled lotus in the centre that itself has a braided-wire aura around it, the flower with a coral at its heart indicating purity and perfection of the self.

The pendant has a ball beading, and a second row of larger orbs reinforces its lower edge with single collet-set firozas at the far ends. A solitary turquoise at the bottom hosts the dharma-chakra drop below which hangs freely a single pearl clasped in fine wire.

A smaller version of the dharma-chakra can be seen at the head of the pendant with two pradips guarding it, all of them attached to a pipe the pearl drops on which seem to have hidden themselves for some reason behind the pradips. The rings at the far ends of the pipe serve as couplings for the crimson loose-thread tassel that completes the jewel and adds to its powerful personality.

All in all, a talismanic goyna of extraordinary simplicity and beauty that declares itself also as a forceful apotropaic pendant. It follows the tradition of everything Tibetan being spiritually inclined much beyond just their material pulchritude.

Handcrafted with skill and sincerity in rich yellow guinea-gold and imparted a light antique finish, this is a jewel rooted in a distant past but with a firm view towards the future. You can't date such an ornament for timelessness is written into its very character. The padma (pema) in the centre and the surrounding foliage (lo ma) bestow upon the jewel its name and assign to it the power to make you immortal by safeguarding your soul and guiding your spirit towards enlightenment. Be certain, this is not just an apotropaic jewel, it's gorgeous too, especially with the crimson tie-back tassel contrasting the gold of the pendant and complementing the studded gems. In it, you'll look every bit the goddess that you are.

Each roundel, individually crafted with pierced naksha, features an exquisite nosegay of flowers. In the central larger disc reigns a single rose in all her glory- Sa Majesté la Rose, the Empress of all flowers baring her carmine-coral heart to the world. The vines around her swirl like a canopy, while miniature buds shyly show themselves, half hidden by the rose leaves. The perfection of the naksha is a testament to the design and craftsmanship that went into creating this ornament. The other four discs feature a double rose nosegay highlighted with coral, firoza and pearl centres for a pop of colour in the midst of the gero polished guinea gold.

The Jhilik Necklace has a captivating and traditional silhouette with a blend of shabeki elements that create utter delight for all to see.

The Naamkoron.

In her own words, the esteemed lady for whom this necklace was created and named JHILIK ..... "Growing up in Kolkata, the charm of yesteryears lingers on in this faraway land, that I made my home for over 25 years now. In my corporate pharma day job, I deal with projects, patients and diseases but beyond this just like any typical girl my love for anything beautiful and handcrafted - be it a saree or a jewelry, is a passion that fills my soul with happiness. In my journey of owing such beautiful things, I chanced upon A Sirkar through a friend and instantaneous fell in love with their 'sabeki' goyna r designs.

Excited to own one such timeless beauty I reached out to Brinda, who responded immediately. From that point my journey started. On reaching Kolkata I met Brinda and we talked extensively about the design I want and how I wanted it to sit on me. What struck me was that when most Kolkata jewelers shy away from customizations, Brinda eagerly listened to what I wanted and made suggestions on the design that would look good on me. The process to create my piece was long and I waited eagerly to see the final creation.

Finally, I was told that my piece was ready. Then a few more months went by before I could visit Kolkata. I stepped in the store with anticipation, not exactly sure if I could like the piece. It happens with me all the time that when I am eagerly waiting for something, I often end up not liking the end result. But, oh no!! this wasn't the case (thank god!), it could have been a too expensive a dislike otherwise! I loved the piece. It has turned out even better than what I imagined. Brinda and her team customized it even further, and at the end it truly became my piece! Thank you, Team Brinda, for creating such a magic!"

This, then, is a necklace like no other - when it adorns you, you are the Goddess; you are the Divine Feminine waiting to be adored. You are also the Abhisarika waiting in Vrindavan for the Lotus eyed Lord.

Jhilik lets you be whoever you want to be.

The entire workmanship is something called 'perfo-naksha', an Anglo-Bengali term meaning 'pierced chasing' and the peacocks are charms that apparently draw the birds to the place where the jewel resides and could probably account for the reason of the rise in urban peacock population around Southern California.

The jewel was shown to an expert on antique Indian jewellery, Shri. Bali Balasona, who stated that the choker must reasonably belong to a lady from West Bengal settled in USA and possibly from somewhere near Mountain View. This he could say with certainty because the ornament had fresh vermilion upon it (that gave it a reddish hue) and smelt of 'dhuno smoke'. "It's an auspicious jewel and must be returned to its rightful owner," said Shri Balasona.

Those who are dreamers, of the day or night kind, should be the first to embrace Kheyali.

There's no reason to believe that personal adornment has anything to do with the mental state. Or is there? Especially when it comes to precious jewell...

There's no reason to believe that personal adornment has anything to do with the mental state. Or is there? Especially when it comes to precious jewellery (there's that term high jewellery which we loathe), what we want can reflect who we are not just in the bodily sense but in the sense of who we believe we are within. Also, especially when we acquire gold jewellery for ourselves, we do so to mark an occasion or for a specific reason or because we associate with the goyna in ways only we know how. In essence, what this indicates is that the ornament has to speak to us in a manner that ensures it transcends its innate beauty and intrinsic worth. It has to be valuable above its price in terms of money and relevant beyond its own beauty and its efficacy in enhancing the beauty of its owner/wearer, which is us.

This bespoke jewel is a perfect example of this tenet, though to call it that would be to narrow its meaningfulness which should, with time, organically mould itself around the associations, events, incidents, places and people its privy to. But before we venture to describe the ornament let's make the acquaintance of Ms. Shirsana Ghatak with whom this delightful jewel has been made.

It's been our great honour to serve the Ghatak family and, as their preferred jeweller, we feel great happiness at being able to create a goyna with and for Shirsana herself - one that'll make her immortal in the hearts of all who matter.

Here's a hansuli shaped like a breastplate. It's armour alright, but of the kind that protects in a time of war with its innate beauty. So often - and with suitable nonchalance that leans towards gallantry, however misplaced - we women are termed the 'fairer sex' or even the loathsome 'weaker sex' by men. In truth we give a fig for the 'fairer', 'prettier', 'delicate' tag. As for 'weaker', it's wise to remember the manifestation of primal power or Shakti in this part of the world is female.

A sacred grove is envisioned. Anfractuous vines - all magical, all mythical, all magnificent - define it. There are flowers aplenty, and the foliated swirls create a fantasy world of exotic and irreplaceable plants and creepers amidst which a merry school for butterflies is in session, though most of its students seem to be playing truant. Into this wondrous wildwood, that harbours yet the evil with the good, am I reborn as a flower.

I was given a choice, but my mind was made up well before my arrival. No marigolds, or lotuses or palash blooms were considered, for in the very sanctum-sanctorum of my heart I wanted to return as a blood-red hibiscus - the Rokto Joba.

It's that which you see, now aureate, in the middle of the hansuli, its deep tolh-parh petals (a masterclass in the art of hand-chasing) making the bloom supremely palpable and allowing its spray of anthers to add verisimilitude to the naksha-on-gold visual.

You will note that the hibiscus dominates the grove but takes away nothing from what's surrounding it. If anything, because of how Cimmerian society has become, the Joba-phul assumes the role of warrior-protector-leader so that none may fall prey to the depredations of deranged members of the same society we call civil, we call progressive.

Entirely hand-wrought from a single sheet of rich yellow guinea gold, given shape and detailed in tin-pora naksha (with the flower being chased four times) by a virtuoso karigar, the hansuli, in all its captivating beauty and elegant and easily recognizable symbolism, is not a soteriological experiment : it's a deliberate and decisive personification of us women who've ceased to be the domesticated goddess that patriarchy will have us be, and who choose to be reincarnated as Mahamaya.

In Her image do all images merge! And
in Her illusory self as the 'dakini' is She
the essential embodiment of anger.
In Her fire thrives all fires, and
She inhabits the very moon
She bears upon her forehead.
It is She who determines the
origin and flow of creation, and
who controls its direction.
Hers, but Hers, is the name within countless
names, in all of which the Om resides.

Art is a weapon too - perhaps among the most potent because it can go to war against evil with beauty and truth on its side. The hansuli is as much a declaration as it is a decorative article, its braided and beaded border and kadamphul clusters speaking the language of joyousness. But the giant, almost looming, hibiscus that it frames is a tocsin that warns of the coming of the goddess of darkness, death and destruction. She will serve her purpose of cleansing mercilessly that which needs to be annihilated from our world. Mahamaya is not revenge. She appears as 'niyoti' for those who, through their brutality and acts of inhuman cruelty, have inadvertently invoked her. Art is not only meditative - it springs from anguish and anger too. So does Mahamaya, as Mahakali.

(Select verses from the poem 'Mahamaya' by Nishikanto Roychowdhury. Loose translation by us)

Whether it's the measured openwork, the shaped pearls in their tight settings, or the calibré-cut emeralds that bracket the corner rubies, the whole pattern is fascinating in its geometry but even more in its ability to transport you back in time and yet keep you at the acme of timeless style.

Look, this jewel is not for everyone. The sophistication of recalling a century-old aesthetic while making a jewel enduringly beautiful involves design considerations that are - to say the least - intense, detailing of the most intricate kind, and a certain skill of manufacture that's all but impossible nowadays to find.

But we have the best Bengali artisans plying their craft exclusively for us and it's their virtuosity that lends the ornament its nobility. Needless to say, the setter's art is what clearly distinguishes this ornament from what in general goes by the broad term 'joroa'. This is also 'joroa', but of the highest kind, where the gold is seen at its minimal, so well-fitted are the stones, yet just enough to corroborate the fact that the jewel is hand-wrought in precious metal, in this case natural yellow 18K gold. Those who might carp about not enough gold being visible are advised the more clinquant homegrown 'joroa' variety which we do not do unless you specifically ask for something to be replicated in that idiom.

And so we give you possibly the most pulchritudinous and valuable Carrom board ever where pearls, rubies and emeralds bring alive a game likely invented by a Maharaja but that’s most popular as a street 'khela' and a home sport across the subcontinent, yes, but also the world. Here, it stands ennobled in 18K yellow gold and precious gems, with a design that enspirits the game.

You'll notice the floral arrangement in the centre resembling the packed men with a ruby queen in the middle. The pockets are defined by the calibré cut emeralds with a red queen in each (departures from the actual are the sum and substance of non-representational art), while the radiating pearl bands from the central flower capture the propulsive force of the striker as it hits the intended men to pocket them. It's fun, and essayed with brilliance by the craftsmanship.

Five seed-pearl strands form the band of the choker and a simple pearl-and-ruby post acts as a spacer bar on each side to keep them unentangled. Identical bars form the endpieces to which a simple turned-wire loop is added.

Carrom boards, smaller, become the matched pashas.

It's opportune, the fact that Carrom and Art Deco grew hand in hand after the First World War. It's opportune too that we have the privilege of recreating the carrom board in gold and precious stones for you. And, finally, it's opportune that it's the rainy season and we're at home and the carrom board beckons.

Come, shall we play?

Six mina cylinders and six fluted ball-beads are strung together using the all but vanished 'ghasha gote'-chain. This kind of completely handmade hand-brushed 'har' has little currency nowadays given the glut of undurable-but-sparkly machine-drawn versions that almost everyone's turned to for their lightness. Fact is, they wouldn't last a score of wearings given the avoirdupois of the enameled amulet pieces and the kadma beads. The brushed gote chain on the other hand will go untroubled through many lifetimes.

Notice an oddity in the muff chain. At the back (where the chain forms a 'U') there's a plain section which is understandable because that part falls on the nuque. A ball or a cylinder there would be a waste besides being distinctly uncomfortable in the wearing. But look to the bottom of the jewel and you'll see two of the enameled cylinders placed side-by-side. Now, that's funny because there ought to be a ball in-between, or at least that's what the design aesthetic demands. On enquiry it was revealed that the artisan was working to specification: an equal number of ball-beads and cylinders had been sanctioned. There you go. Interpretative design decisions are encouraged but, you know, certain things are best left to us. It's awfully nice to create designs together, but with something like fine jewellery, certain critical aspects of the ornament have to come from those who live and breathe jewel-craft, and have done so for a long, long time - us. The ornaments will always be of great refinement, they will be unique, veracious and exquisite, and they'll always be you. That's what bespoke means. Just, please, entrust to us the vital decision-making regarding technical- and certain aesthetic aspects of your jewel. You'll see, that'll only bring glory to you and to the goyna.

That said, we should return to this rather remarkable muff chain which, unlike the smooth tactuality of most such opera-length hars, is quite chunky. But that is what primarily sets it apart from other chains of equal length and heft. Perhaps this one leans more towards a poshaki-har or a long-chain than a muff-chain, but then both of those are different in their construct: the poshaki har necessarily sits on a frame and is more often than not one-sided while the long-chain is usually a slim-and-trim uninterrupted model.

Even if uncategorizable, 'Muff chain' seems a more appropriate appellation.

Remember, you can change the colour of the mina to any that you choose. Black and white's a great combination but then many may think it too outré. Settle for the one you know you can live with, and love, forever.

Perfect as light evening-wear and quite eye-catching as a relatively long har, the Borsha Baran muff-chain is handcrafted with utmost care from start to finish, and remains a collector's delight, especially as it seems the darkest rainclouds of Srabon have been captured and held in the cylinders with the white dots and the flowers indicating rejuvenating rain. The 'kadma' ball-beads hardly need explanation but their presence indicates, and with certainty, auspiciousness and rejoicement. The chain is the divine thread that ties all events and actions together.

It's a monsoon jewel alright (and fittingly celebrates Borsha), but one that transcends seasons and generations to be ever relevant, ever beautiful; its deep-yellow guinea gold becoming brighter and more enduring over time.

A case in point would be, among the vast spectrum of weaves we witness in the country, the distinct Baluchari of Nadia that fuses stories from the Terracotta temples built by the Malla kings with pictorial depictions of the later Nawabs of Bengal so seamlessly as to seem inseparable, though each has its own panel of honor within the richly woven fabric.

In this jewel too, such a confluence takes place, but not in a style as obvious as the Baluchari.

To start with, the form of the pendant will be familiar to you as the Maaduli, in this case one that's drawn from the amulet cases peculiar to Telengana. Within it you'll notice a pierced-naksha panel that includes a trellis in the middle with foliate swirls framing it. This perforated trellis references Kashmiri Pinjrakari while the swirls come from the wood- and metal-work of Punjab. Above, a frieze of barfis holds in its heart a roundel with a flower on it. This part, verticalized, and with a trefoil crown and a fluted-and-polished ball jhumka completing it, becomes the matched earring, right down to the faceted rice-grain border.

The Maaduli or Ta'wiz is a form not functional, here, because it's perforated and also halved, the rear being left open. Beneath, a thick cluster of polished and split-ball serrated orbs creates a formidable fringe like the kind you'd see in tribal ornaments the spirit of which infuses this jewel. The domed ends of the cylindrical amulet are decorated with ball-beading and braided wires and do well to frame the naksha, while the earthy polish dulls the gold and gives it a barely-discernible cramoisy patina. Placed on a thoroughly Bengali chatai (made of chhela double kamal-chain that's beaded on top and edged below with faceted topa-karais) the Ta'wiz stands out further and greatly draws attention to itself.

The fascinating thing is the chased patterns were influenced by a silver pankhi received as a wedding gift, and that little artefact in essence is a pooja item. And so we have a Maaduli of tribal character from Hyderabad fashioned the way Kashmiri Pinjrakari screens and Punjabi metalwork would be - both inspired by a pooja article - and which is suspended on a frieze that draws its motifs from the karigari of the Rajasthani Aad, all superimposed upon a quintessentially Bengali chatai which bestows upon it the necklace form.

Syncretism ! - lovingly handmade (through the instinctual commingling of varied Indian craft) and wholly aniconic - as an eclectic but universally beautiful jewel, in pure guinea gold. Is there anything left to be said?

Here it is again, the enchanting penultima...

Here it is again, the enchanting penultimate verse of Dorothy Frances Gurney's poem God's Garden, come alive in this jewel that's modelled on and adapted from the ShivTara kanbala of three years ago, only this time the Garden of Love, "wrought painstakingly by hand in chaste guinea-gold" and which isn't an "ordered and planned 'jardin anglais' at all", is a Bagan open to all just as it is open to "the magic of divine light and the rain that anyone may have in their heart."

A goyna "uniquely soigné such that it is beautiful and belletristic both - written by virtuoso artisans in classic pierced naksha - this unique Garden of Love is one where flowering vines abound and that's scented in a way that's at once nebulous and captivating." You'll see innumerable varieties in a stunning arabesque with the bejewelled blossoms marked out in turquoise, pink rubies and pearls.

The heroes of the kanbala, Shiv and Tara, personified in the intertwined musk-rose and wild pomegranate, are seen here in the centre but the idiom is more of a magical vine than of anything that has to do with the familial in a specific sense, though "the saplings growing together with strength and purpose, care and feeling, love and sweet regard" are still alluded to strongly enough.

All in all, a choker that's an adapted design from what has become a legendary kanbala and yet, in its new avatar, has turned out a jewel no less virtuous in its own right and one that can be easily embosomed as much for its precious floriation as its splendid detailing like the subtle framing with strung seed-pearls.

The matched single-blossom kan-pashas could be made larger to include more of the arabesque and other options for earrings can also be explored.

We've named the choker differently in deference to the children the original goyna was dedicated to and they shall forever remain the true jewels in every way we may imagine and as well by name.

"I'm a co...

"I'm a commerce graduate now working in a small finance firm. I love culture and heritage in the broad sense but also in the way that's it's defined by Bengali 'bonediyana'. Foremost among my hobbies is listening to good music. The reason I chose A.Sirkar is because they checkboxed culture and heritage as I saw them and represented the 'bonediyana' I so cherish."

She also specified the rose as an essential part of the jewel, and one that would find pride of place in the design. Also, because this was her wedding necklace, it needed to be of a certain volume which dictated it be given the form of a Sita-Har, albeit not one that had to be particularly rigid in its articulation of its decorative aspects.

Accordingly, several designs were drawn and from them this is the one Debarati selected, feeling the splendor of its three-tiered centerpiece to be of special attraction.

The shapes are familiar. The form and orientation of its chased plaques are not. Floriation is achieved using airy pierced-naksha and the calibration of chains (in a combination of chhela gote and ball-kamal) is a rare treat, allowing space for the regal central cascade to stand out while connecting it to the triple-cartouche terminal segment of the Sita-Har.

The monumental fan-shaped plaque is replete with with a fecund rose bush in swirling embroidery that covers all of it, the buds, rosettes and the magnificent golap in full bloom in the middle as a whole signifying a fragrant fertility that nature’s endowed it with.

Below the fan are two tiers of freely swinging scallops like the cloth fringes seen on the actual punkahs. These are more moderately decorated but again are seen to be rich with flowers. Below each is a measured edging of ball-jhur and every pendant is beaded with hollow orbs above and below. Note how a single large ball-karai among the jhur on each pendant visually coordinates the trio and coordinates the whole Sita-Har as well, and this is crucial to how the ornament behaves when worn on person and how our sight travels along its decorative core.

The terminal cartouches each comprise a single spray of leaves and one flower and are shaped to reflect the centerpiece though with the arches turned upwards and the ball-jhur on their sides.

That's it. In essence, that's the whole of the ornament. But the essence of the ornament is not just that. It's chief attribute is its symbolic association with its owner-wearer, Debarati.

We all try to distinguish ourselves in some way or the other among family, within society, in the world. Our work does that for us; as does our character and personality; our pulchritude for a while, perhaps; our thoughts and ideas; beliefs and motivations; our inherent beauty; and our style.

Fine gold jewellery, of the finest hand-manufacture and especially bespoke, embodies each of these in some way or the other. It empowers us to show the world symbolically who we are and celebrates our earthly lives led with joy unceasing. It's like an Arati to our spirit and our soul; one that never diminishes in its power to illuminate our divinity.

The Devi in the legend of our lives is none other than us. We are the universal mother or Ma whether we give birth biologically or not. And it is the blessing of our womanhood that confers upon the universe its ability to perpetuate.

As such this dazzling, all-chhela, meticulously hand-crafted ornament - in the guise of a gravid rose bush immortalized within a punkah in pure guinea gold made cramoisy in polish - epitomizes Devi Mayer Arati as envisioned by Debarati and signified by her name.

We thank her deeply for her trust and custom, and for giving us carte blanche over the jewel's detailing.

May her, and the jewel's, light and beauty shine bright, shine beautiful, for ever and ever.

As for the speeches, vastly entertaining, that, nolens volens, the public has been made to hear, they’ve gone down in the history of linguistics as the greatest example of rancour (for the opposition) and encomium (for themselves) held within one frame of writing.

But it's not the end, no. There's still a vote left for truth and beauty, for the authenticity and veracity of thought and action, for timeless elegance and elegant timelessness, for grace and glory that's perspicuous and pure, and for our aureate immortality.

We've listed the candidate below for you with all relevant and requisite qualifications and declarations so that you feel comfortable in voting or not voting for the contestant. Please note that no advertisements, paid promotions, or PR programmes have been resorted to for this candidature. The only public view comes from conversations on social media.

Name: Kamal Clover
Party: Independent.
Ward: 22K
Constituency: Gariahat/Hridoynagar
State: Sonar Bangla

Attributes: Hand-chased choker with beading for borders, all round, and with jhumur-ball clusters generously fringing the entire lower edge of the jewel.

Description: A procession or 'michhil' of four four-leaf clovers on each side, leading to the lotus in the centre. The ball-clusters add musicality and volume to the proceedings. Tiny cross-flowers, contiguous with the clover, help modulate the gap between the latter and clearly calibrate the flora of the jewel in a manner that reflects the constituents of human society.

Character: Pure guinea gold. Genuine craftsmanship. A little wayward with the ball-clusters. Pierced naksha, through and through. Vermilion polish. Part of a wedding jewellery suite of which this is the choker.

Virtues: Enduring beauty. Makes the owner/wearer immortal. Perfectly imperfect pulchritude that reflects our true womanliness. Unique in its embodiment of faith, love, hope and luck. Delights everyone. Becomes a secure repository of your memories, sentiments and feelings.

Flaws: Much too lovely for words.

Promises: None, except assured and unconditional friendship at all times.

Now please vote or not vote for the candidate Kamal Clover, and this is open to all Indians anywhere in the world. Remember, yours will be a vote for truth and beauty.

And on the basis of that little fact of life comes this spectacular bib necklace made by hand in pure-guinea gold using four kinds of workmanship: naksha, polish pat, thokai and ball-work.

Nine discal plaques with diverse flora and ball borders are attached to a wide chain that sees narrow x-phul lines (the one in the middle is wider) interspersed with 'chokh' pieces and bordered with polished orbs. Two rows of falcate moons follow, the first in polish-pat and the other in naksha. Subtle differences occur in the crescents and you'll note this to be an attribute that while not seeming eccentric does add a touch of the bohemian to an otherwise straightforward narrative.

Another full-moon with a pierced naksha padma within is bordered with seed-pearls and hung from the central crescent. The split-ball jhumurs are generously distributed across the rest of the goyna so that musicality becomes intrinsic to the necklace. Perched above the central full- and falcate-moon arrangement sits a polished chaand as if cradling in its arms the planet. It's here where the jewel's genius loci is located.

Created with and for Ms. Madhurima Chatterjee, there's reason to believe the world's attention will be drawn to her not only when she wears this exquisitely wrought shoulder-to-shoulder necklace but at all times because of her innate beauty and brilliance. Here she is in her own words :

"Ami Madhurima. I've always been drawn towards the creative side of life, which led me to design as my career. I studied fashion communication in university and currently I work as a user experience designer, crafting software with great detail and meaning.

"My mother had known about A Sirkar's craftsmanship for years. After a short visit my parents decided that they were the only ones to design my wedding jewellery.

"It all started with a drawing that I was shown over a video call that slowly transitioned into this beautiful masterpiece with several iterations and fittings. The personal touch was my favourite aspect, allowing me to feel involved in the design of something I would cherish forever. I wanted a neckpiece that flowed with my movement rather than sitting stiffly, and A Sirkar brought my vision to life with their expertise. I can already envision myself as a princess on my wedding day, wearing this masterpiece of a creation."

We thank profusely and with all our heart Madhurima and her parents for choosing us to create Madhurima’s wedding jewels. May she be a Maharani in them but also a Maharani in every virtuous context of that title in everyday life. May gold mark her every step and the golden light of divinity shine upon her, always.

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(Just so that you know, this is the main necklace of the wedding suite of which Kamal Clover [showcased on 1st June] is the choker. Needless to say, when worn together, the jewel's pure filmy splendor, albeit with greater finesse and a refinement of character only authentic handmade fine gold Bengal jewellery can have)

NOTICE

After five decades o...

NOTICE

After five decades of deliberation by the Department of Mango Affairs and Standards (DoMAS), the original Central Committee members of which are all settled in their heavenly abodes no doubt landscaped with the most venerable mango trees, and after quelling wave after wave of civil protest by regions of the country declaring a particular kind of Aam from their area as King of - or Queen of - or Prince of Mangoes, a decision has been reached as to the one Aam-type to be officially announced as the winner among all mangoes of Aam Bharat.

There will be no crown awarded but an unknown jeweller has been commissioned by the Honorable Minister of Fruits, Smt. Phalmool Devi, to make a pendant and earring set of gold in near likeness of the selected mango but with free and imaginative detailing to celebrate the victorious fruit. She has, after much persuasion, and after due consultation with her guru - who a month before the general elections had publicly certified her a 'sadhuni' seeing as to how she’d given up her Christian Louboutins for Janata-brand hawai-chappals when touring mango orchards across the country - agreed reluctantly to wear the guinea-gold vermilion-tinted hand-chased pendant and earrings for the ceremony crowning the chosen mango. Later, the precious jewels will be handed over to the Chief Custodian of State Treasures, Dr. Sarvasya Mehra, the son-in-law of the Hon. Minister of Fruits.

Declaration of Result of Central Committee Vote on Best Mango of Aam Bharat will follow the list of contenders for the title:

LIST OF CONTENDERS

a) Dasheri from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
b) Banganapalli from Andhra Pradesh.
c) Kesar from Junagadh, Gujarat.
d) Chausa from Bihar.
e) Himsagar from West Bengal.
f) Alphonso from Maharashtra.
g) Suvarnarekha from Odisha.
h) Mankurad form Goa.

DECLARATION OF WINNER

The Central Committee took it upon itself to ensure each and every respected member was present at the blind tasting of the mangoes in contention for the title of Best Mango of Aam Bharat. Each eminent member was given two of each variety to taste in full which came to sixteen mangoes per person to be had over an hour in the afternoon of the appointed day of voting. A diabetologist, a psychiatrist, a gastroenterologist, and a village shaman, all eminent in their own way, were present at the venue in case matters got out of hand but besides Shri. Gul Abkhas who, when caught surreptitiously chucking mangoes out of the window into his waiting pick-up van, promptly went into a dead faint and was revived with two tall glasses of fresh mango juice, no other untoward incident was noted. The ballots were duly counted after the intense voting session and a unanimous winner revealed.

The Best Mango of Aam Bharat is the HimSagar Aam from West Bengal.

NOTE ON COMMEMORATIVE GOLD ORNAMENT

The precious pendant and earring set, as of writing, is on display for all to see. It has in effect immortalized the HimSagar Aam in pure guinea-gold. Commenting on the exceptional design and workmanship of the jewel, which Smt. Phalmool Devi snatched from the hands of Baba Lang-da, a renowned faith healer and committee member, while the latter was appreciating it at the meeting, Smt.G.S.Bindra, the esteemed jewellery designer, stated:

PRESENTATION CEREMONY

A sabha will be held for the formal declaration of the HimSagar Aam as the Best Mango of Aam Bharat. It shall be presided over by Lala Ras Puri (my respected uncle-ji) the Chairman of DoMAS, and Smt. Phalmool Devi. All are invited. The date, after the mango season, shall be intimated through a later notice.

The rounded heart shape that frames a trio of carnations set with diamonds lends the jewel its name and the flowers are resplendent in their setting, the scroll-work around them accentuating their presence. Single diamond 'buds' and leaves abound on the curvy stems and these and the flowers are all rhodium-plated to add authenticity to the jewel by referencing the Edwardian diamond-set ornaments that used to made in rose gold, with silver or platinum used for the settings.

A solitary diamond-capped pearl-drop adds that ludic (or bohemian, if you will) touch you've seen in the matched earrings from three days ago and invests the jewel with a certain cheerful energy.

The slightly pretentious partly-French name notwithstanding - though we did think it might be proper to acknowledge the French Belle-Époque as well - it's exquisite, this jewel, even if we say so ourselves. Handcrafted with nimble and noble hands, the art evident in the pavé and collet settings (the setter's a veteran diamond specialist), the cordate centerpiece is, in effect, the whole of the jewel because the spacer-and terminal-bars are just plain polished strips with the latter given a twisted wire appendage to which a chain or a tassel may be affixed to close the necklace at the nuque.

The form, of course, is the Edwardian pearl-and diamond festoon (the originals used to be made of strands of natural saltwater pearls as were found along the Basra coast) that, in Bengal, is fondly called the 'Shelly'.

Though primarily a flat necklace, it can as well be worn slightly raised on the neck as a collar. Both would look fab with formal western-wear like gowns, etc. but we'd root for the saree any day.

The white carnations here are unfading blooms encrusted with brilliant-cut diamonds. They're framed con amore within a heart-shaped bower that in all its lissome elegance becomes a cordate badge of love, luck, undisputed affection and pure womanhood.

Far from being dernier cri among the dazzling diamond ornaments of today, the Coeur d'Carnations Shelly is merely a charming necklace that, like the everlasting flowers at its heart, makes you infinite too.

If the beauty of your womanhood could be imagined as a jewel, it would be this.

And while those pithy words can be ascribed to an architect - interior designer of repute, they are of great sig...

And while those pithy words can be ascribed to an architect - interior designer of repute, they are of great significance to fine jewellery as well, especially those that are created from or in some way incorporate relevant bits and pieces, select gems, or even talismanic portions of an earlier jewel of historical and sentimental value enough for it to be considered an heirloom.

Not all heirlooms are pretty, or easily wearable, or of discerning taste or quiet sophistication, but most are, in some way or the other, cherished remembrancers. As such, one can be selective in retaining them in their entirety or remodeling or reusing them to make new designs that still contain a reasonably generous part of the original jewel. That way, an aureate past is never erased and is, in fact, granted a much stronger relevance in the fresh ornament. A transformation will be effected but it'll have an heirloom heart, a soul rooted in history, and the spirit of beloved forebears joyously intact.

THE REAL JEWEL AFTER WHOM THIS JEWEL IS NAMED, in her own words :
"I am Sudarshana Sengupta, a biotech executive, working on delivering personalized cancer therapies to patients. I'm a mother to a sixteen-year-old human, and a three-year-old puppy, wife to an amazing, compassionate man. I live in a quiet suburb just south of Boston, in the US. I am an avid reader of both fiction and non-fiction, English and Bengali. I love to garden; it brings me great joy; and I have a tremendous weakness for good design in all walks of life, be it authentic handloom sarees and jewellery, or architecture, or interior design. Am I a collector? I don't know yet - I guess time will tell.

"To us, A. Sirkar is our family jeweller. My mother had all her jewellery made by A. Sirkar, because she said she detested the "phongobene" goyna sold by other jewellers. So when it came to my wedding, of course, my parents brought me to A.Sirkar. And I haven’t looked anywhere else since, because nobody else even comes close in terms of aesthetics."

THE JEWEL FOR A JEWEL
Ask any experienced vigneron and they'll tell you how difficult it is to grow quality grapes. Ask us and we'll reveal we'd rather be a vigneron of the real kind, cultivating juicy fruit on dense green vines, than jewellers impossibly tasked with bringing to life a lata-pata in gold (for the leaves and anfractuous stems, as also the frames for the grapes) with its palpable bunch of faceted amethyst angoor.

But that's exactly what we did, from a design proposition we made to Sudarshana when she approached us with her mother's amethyst-set demi-parure and told us she didn't want to retain the rather clunky goyna but did care a lot about the amethysts as they'd been lovingly collected by her mother.

We were, essentially, tasked with making a new ornament out of the cut-amethysts while using the gold as well for the fresh jewel.

Working with a virtuoso diamond-jewellery artisan, the vine, completely organic, was handcrafted, each leaf manually cut out from sheets of gold and then, using the rare 'tohl-parh' technique, given their undulating form. Note the calibration of the leaves and their veinage (again, hand-engraved), the fronds along the twining vine, and the amethysts in more of a cluster than a cascade.

It took six months to put the ornament together. The amethyst angoor-thoka had to be rearranged thrice to get the right proportion and balance, and the vine sections made and re-made innumerable times till the braiding of the wires seemed imperfectly lissome enough to afford it a splendid and altogether tactile verisimilitude.

Finally, the back chain failed. And that had to be replaced by a round-wire hanger (works like a charm), which is what you see on the necklace.

All that aside, and you don't really have to know the excruciating behind-the-scenes process of any artistic creation, the jewel is an elegant, enchanting and delightful example of creative "reuse and transformation" - a necklace of enduring beauty whose virtues of veracity and simply-stated loveliness make it an instant classic and a prized heirloom, probably one that'll remain cherished as it is, forever.

In gratitude to Sudarshana for placing her trust in us, for insisting the past be incorporated - as a tribute - into the future, for keeping the spirit of her mother happily alive in a jewel that's truly sui generis, for being supremely patient with the process of creation and re-creation, and as our tradition demands whenever we create a bespoke ornament for you and with you, we've christened this jewel Vigne d'Or 'Sudarshana' or The Golden Vine 'Sudarshana'.

Made for Mrs. Manali Chakraborty and named after her, this Sita-har derives its refinement from other fine jewels such as the Mayurpur and Grinling-Gendaphul hansuli but eschews the drama of the former, instead focusing on the intricate scrolling vines and floriated naksha of the second neckpiece.

The picture-frame centerpiece has a naksha rope border and it is then framed by a continuous ball-karai beading. Within, you'll find bunches of anfractuous stems with leaves arrayed around them; two large clusters of buransh (rhododendron) are evident and are so generously endowed that the branches seem to bend in floriation.

Beneath the centerpiece and attached to it by free-swinging rings is the cartouche pendant the infill of which is an inflorescence of wild Himalayan primrose spread in a manner that resembles the rays of the sun.

This flower, in solitary and enlarged form, is repeated on the brackets that hold together the four pearl-and-gold strands (strung mangal-sutra style) on each side. As separators, a quartet of peacocks, each within their lotus halos, does well to further the pierced-naksha workmanship of the Sita-har but the regal birds having been reported missing from their natural habitat has also been taken note of in case they're spirited away by zealous Mayurpur fans.

Mrs. Manali Chakraborty's kindness and care towards her fellow beings isn't merely an example of her compassion; it's also her calling: she's a qualified nursing professional. That said, kindness and deep consideration are intrinsic to her character, and it shows brilliantly in her involvement in the making of her jewel (she's the one who suggested peacocks for the sidepieces) as also in her ready forgiveness when it the order overshot its delivery date by a good margin. Listening to music and people are her favourite pastime, though talking to folks is also equally high on the list of things she loves doing - and this is what makes her exemplary in her profession. So much of true caregiving is talking, isn't it?

As for why Mrs. Chakraborty came to A Sirkar? — here's what she had to say:

"I choose A Sirkar because of the intricate shabeki designs which stir the emotions of every Bengali. There's a uniqueness to A Sirkar jewellery that I can carry forward to my next generation."

Well, we have Manali to be grateful to for bringing Manali to us. We birthed the jewel together and breathed life into it and ensured it would become an immediate classic and, with time, a rare family heirloom. Not only does the jewel, in all its beauty and genteel majesty, reflect the cultural refinement of its owner/wearer, it also - with its wild mountain flowers and peacocks and pearls - captures within its aureated finery the essence of who she is: a life-giving angel to those whose care she's entrusted with.

Like the beautiful Manali of the hills, fragrant blossoms decorate this jewel, and true to her name (drawn from 'Manu', which also means 'bird') the peacock resides in the ornament as an enduring sign of immortality.

Of beauty and the life infinite, then, is Manali an abiding symbol. Come, let's celebrate her.

In this jewel, we reimagine the nestless birds in a verdant residence of their own. They who are fated to never build themselves a home are now settled in what appears to be a colony of koels. A quartet of kokils facing this way and that are poised upon three slender vines of tipki-chela kamal-chains that together form the side bands of this graceful Sita-har which leans more towards a poshaki-har than the chunky chandmala form of the traditional long necklace.

In the centre is the magic grove of these birds, given an exaggerated crescentic shape, which forms itself as would a swing of jungle creepers, laden with swirling fronds of wild plants of no definable kind but rich in their gathering nevertheless. Two koels meet in the middle over a solitary flower that seems to resemble a rising sun, the intense red of their eyes reflected in the bloom, their passion turning to gold this secret venue. At the ends, where the swing is held in place by the kamal-chain vines, are two mangoes (also with rubies in them) symbolic of the frugivorous nature of the mature birds. A border of ball-beads decorates the crescent 'kunja' while the chela stick-and-orb fringe adds volume and jollity to the jewel, as do the five tinkling jhumkas which also lend a sweet musicality to the goyna.

And if your heart goes all aflutter when you hear the amatory call of the red-eyed kokil, forget and imagine instead the bird divested of its vices and left only with its lilting song of love and longing. Then look to this guinea-gold jewel and imagine the selfsame bird in its happy home - an aureate grove of the most exquisite pierced foliate naksha - where, with its full family and friends, the kokil resides in perfect privacy, and in peace that's as lustrous as it is everlasting.

(Quoted song by Sandhya Mukhopadhyay, with music by Bhupen Hazarika and lyrics by Shibdas Bandopadhyay. Quoted line : Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay’s Basanter Kokil, from Kamalkanta)

Central as well are the costumes, props, and colour which, through the fourteen years it took for the film to be made, changed from monochrome to Eastmancolor. Arches, especially the ogee types, abound in the film, more so in the haveli of Sahibjaan where the wealthy and powerful come to see her mujras.

The bird in a golden cage a besotted Nawab sends her finds resonance in a little jewelled cage she has made for herself to wear as a dangler from her hair and in which she hides the note her admirer Salim wrote her, dreaming always of escaping her life as a tawaif and settling down with he who loves her dearly, truly. But will she drive her fate in the direction of her dreams?

In a telling scene, when she's gone to visit a friend at a kotha in the city, a tawaif appears at a window opposite the balcony out to which Sahibjaan has wandered. She recognizes Sahibjaan and tells her to give her her fate for a night, and to this Sahibjaan's retort is : "Haan, haan, zuroor le jaana. Phir chaahe waapas bhi na karna".

All this is condensed into the pendant you see that also doubles up as a magnificent jhapta. Motifs from the lascivious Nawab's carpet, that he sent Sahibjaan as a gift, form the infill. The bars of the golden cage are now soft and shiny chains, and the bird has been set free. Instead, there's a solitary flower, a belphul, placed like a badge on the front of the 'cage', to show an independence secured. Finally, the bells on the courtesan's anklets are in abundance on the lower two panels, and these are accompanied by gold chaktis like those that might edge Sahibjaan's simple dupattas for everyday use.

Does this handcrafted guinea jewel embody the film? — No. Meena Kumari? — No (though we've included the belphul because she absolutely adored them). Her character Sahibjaan? — No. Yet it evokes all three, and comes together in a most splendid way so that in its wearing you can distinctly hear:

Din ho gaee hai zalim
Raate hai qatilana
Raate hai qatilana
Mausam hai aashiqana...

The scent of mangoes from the large tree in the garden of the house alongside — called Singerkach after the little village in Sylhet (in Bangladesh, now) from where the family hailed — imbued our terrace with an ambrosial sweetness every summer as the southwind made the butterfly peas dance merrily as it invariably drove itself into the embrace of the vines' maze of lissome stems and dense leaves. This wasn't an untoward alliance, that of the breeze and the creepers, and the mango tree didn't spread its gentle fragrance for nothing. The trio of plants and the Dokhina Batash, with the Aam Gachh, formed a fine set of friends who, with simply their presence, made supremely beautiful every moment of each day we spent up on the roof.

They brutally demolished the house next door. The mango tree, together with two coconut palms laden with fruit, were chopped down with electric saws, the former — its splendidly formed branches thick with new leaves and barely-born panicles — stripped naked, its limbs torn asunder, and then sawed through the middle of its torso to leave only a stump that, later, was uprooted and wheeled away by the labour on site.

The bathtub planter's long gone from the terrace, and with it the three butterfly pea vines. The south-wind still blows as energetically and with equal enthusiasm as earlier but no longer gets caught in anyone's arms, its passage clear around and over the room on the roof.

This ornament picturises the scene as it used to be then. It's not a nostalgia piece, though ; more a retelling of the story of those diverse friends meeting and greeting and completing each other. It celebrates, beyond a firm friendship, the commingling of varied constituents of nature in a manner that constitutes beauty bright and easy, with a man-made fibreglass tub playing an indispensable part in it all.

Note the jewel :

The exaggeratedly curved tub is hung with three 'chand-balis', representing the trio of blossoming vines, all fringed with plenty of ball-jhur. The scrolling perfo-naksha motif of the centrepiece is decidedly barococo, and in it flowers, leaves and stems combine with no discernible discipline.

To each side of the cartouche pendant is fixed a pair of terpsichorean Manipuri kalkas, as the fruits of the mango tree, that appear to be engaged in intense action. From there, the ball-bordered gote back-chain may not be a special feature, but its simple weave helps focus the eye only on the virtuoso centrepiece.

Hand-wrought slowly and with extraordinary skill in pierced naksha that's no less organic than the actual plants themselves, this is an ornamental but unconventional short-Sita-har that happens to be part of our Convertibles Collection because the centrepiece detaches to become an independent necklace.

A history-memory-homage jewel that's incomparable of design, style, and the sheer force of beauty and truth it holds within it, what Singerkach (we've named it in honour of the vanished dwelling) does is resurrect the past and ensure its perpetuity in pure guinea-gold.

A bedroom was asked to be opened and prepared, and the bed made with a single pea sitting on it and above which twenty mattresses and a full score of eiderdowns were placed.

Next morning, the Queen asked the girl how she'd rested and was told by her that she hadn't been able to sleep a wink, tossing and turning the whole night through, feeling as if something hard was poking her.

The Queen immediately knew her to be a genuine princess because only one of royal disposition could be so sensitive as to detect an impediment beneath twenty mattresses and an equal number of eiderdowns. Convinced of her blue blood, the Queen promptly got her married to her son, the Prince, and they lived happily ever after.

That's all very well, but as has been the tradition with more recent fairy tales, this one too has come from a story documented as a folk tale from guess where? — Bihar!!

In it, there's a village called Danapur where the story's events take place. The headman of this remote rural place has a daughter named Suvarna whose beauty is beyond compare. She falls in love with a lowly and impecunious farmer's son whose first and last love it seems are his cattle.

Angered by his daughter's choice of who should be her life-partner, the headman decides to do something to thwart her and reason out with her the situation. In the meantime, the cowherd, unaffected by these happenings, is out in the fields grouping the animals.

The sun's fierce and the earth's smoking hot, and the old witch's door is open, too, as if she knew he was coming. The headman goes inside and returns with a phial of green peas that he takes to Suvarna right away.

"Take these and string them together in the form of a garland. If in three days your love turns the mala of peas to gold, I shall approve your marriage. If not, you'll have to forget the cowherd ever existed."

Needless to say, Suvarna completes the task in no more than a-day-and-a-half. By supper on the morrow she presents to her father the Matar-Mala in brilliant yellow gold. Stunned, he doesn't have words with which to reply but blesses her and clasps her to his chest.

Later, Suvarna and the cowherd are married off (with Suvarna wearing the garland of golden peas), the village folks rejoice in their union, and they all live in peace and splendour forever.

The guinea-gold Matar-Mala you see is the very one that Suvarna strung to prove the virtuousness and purity of her love.

...sang Martin Johnson and Taylor Swift, and it could well have been the song that sealed things between Ishani Raina Ghosh, MSC MBBS from Leicester University, and Joseph Frith, a practicing chartered accountant who lives, like Ishani, in Lancashire. They’ve known each other from junior school and have recently gotten married in Kolkata, with a reception separately held in England.

This ‘Convertible’ ornament — in which a pair of perfo-naksha sabu-dana paisleys is caught necking like couples do at the Dhakuria Lakes during Spring’s twilight hours — with its simple kamal-ball side-chains is a marvel of restraint, sweet glamour, and symbolism.

For once, you’re invited to examine the ornament but in a different way, i.e to see what there isn’t and find the loving couple within that nothingness. But that we’ll leave for later. Let's, in the meantime, get to know Ishani better:

"Ishani Raina Ghosh ia an MSC MBBS from Leicester University. She was ambassador for the Medical School for Leicester University during her six years there. She was also part of the Teddy bear Hospital, a charitable society of the University, that visits schools to alleviate fear of doctors/hospitals, improve general knowledge of the human body and teach some basic first aid skills. Ishani loves travelling, experiencing different cuisines, music, visiting museums and is a huge fan of Korean films and Taylor Swift."

Back to the jewel : There's the love-vine, realised in delicate wire and repoussé leaves, which winds around the kalkas, framing them, and then forms a swinging heart pendant beneath. And, of course, there are those ball finials and a half-jhumka drop that all have done well to calibrate the voids magnificently. But that's about as much as we'll say about the jewel because its true creator is Mrs.Gopali Chakraborti-Ghosh. She conceptualised it, named it, and saw it through in time for the wedding. She gave us Hridayam.

Our greatest gratitude to her for that. In her own lapidary words may she delight us with the stories of its birthing.

Anyway, to get back to the point, those of you who concur regarding the supremacy of the Bengali sandesh among the sweetmeats of India and the world will also vote for the natun-gur version to delight through winter in no measure less than the sada-sandesh that’s such a life-saver through the hotter months.

But have you noticed something? In both cases, the mishti is seen in either boring rectangular blocks or as regular spheres. The marvellously quirky shapes and designs of yore (the Chandrapuli is an exception that’s still stamped and shaped using wooden moulds) made using dies of wood, earth or stone have completely disappeared. Those rather odd but ceaselessly engaging designs —— thought to be hick in the age of machine-made-and-moulded sandesh where the decorations, like dressed up cakes and pastries, are always on the outside of the mishti and usually realised as flourishes like the toppings on ice cream and pizza, though in the case of Bengali sweets they tend to be by and large superficial —— are long gone, perhaps even from memory.

Natun Bazaar, on Chitpore Road, is where these mishti’r moulds would abound, because that’s the, now more than a-century-and-a-half old, place where the Bengali Sandesh’s evolution began from. The market itself, built in 1871 by one of Calcutta’s most flourishing businessmen, Raja Rajendra Mullick, holds within it some of the city’s oldest and pioneering sweet-shops, and if you venture within its labyrinthine passages with stalls crowding every inch of them, you’ll find also the original wholesale khoa-kheer market, its kiosks stacked with the undulating wheels of pale yellow reduced milk.

A sensory delight, the market and its mishti-makers or ‘moiras’ are alive and well and very, very busy at all times, given the Bengalis, of any age and gender, are not to be denied their mishti after daily meals on any account, ever.

Sadly, the superbly carved moulds that lent visual interest (and surely strong tactile pleasure) to the sweetmeats have lost their relevance and their artistry. Some can still be found, like the shankho (for the ubiquitous shaankh-sandesh) and taal-saansh (for the jalbhora), and things like swans (for the chokingly dry kora-paaker hans) and large fishes (an essential for biyer tattwa), but the other eccentric stuff’s been more or less written off.

This necklace is an ode to the lost moulds of Bengali sweets. We’ve chosen the ‘surjyamukhi’ and ‘aam’ as the apt examples to convey how much a source of delight these shapes and designs were to the sweets that they moulded for sale at counters and on special orders.

The round sunflower breaks that term and literally carves out a sun motif with curling flames that surround a petite double-bloom in the middle that looks more a daisy than a ‘surjyamukhi’, but that’s a minor fault considering the flames can easily be interpreted as the petals or ray florets and the flower in the middle as the disc floret —— but whose complaining about this not being, technically, the perfect sunflower when confronted by the delicacy of the mishti.

The ‘surjyamukhi’ moulds are in two sizes (the sweets were priced accordingly) and form the leading trio. Also they’re all framed by ball-borders and have generous ball-clusters fringing them across their lower halves, though in the case of the central medallion this fringe is attached to a swinging ‘smiley’ hanger and includes split-orbs that set the jewel all a tinkle when they move.

At the ends are the mango moulds, also in two sizes, and they’re also lovingly carved and edged partially with ball-beads. If you remember the maddeningly addictive aam-sandesh that was a minty green in colour and had a slight tang to it and a subtle scent of tok-mishti raw mango, that’s the one that used this mould to give it the shape of the fruit with ample decorative flourishes, though a smooth mango version was also popular for the kora-paak version.

In the jewel, the mangoes seem to be rejoicing with the surjyamukhi, and that’s what this design is about : a celebration of the art of sandesh-making, not just in the technical expertise required to create the sweet but also in giving them a visual definition that spoke of their softness of character and offered hints to their inherent taste. For instance, the sunflower would be stained a light yellow with saffron in the ‘chhana’ and on top would be reddened by a couple of strands of the spice allowed to bleed into the gamboge of the rest of the mishti. The aam-sandesh would use colouring at its bare minimum and would be flavoured discreetly with — and you won’t believe this! — aam-aada (mango-ginger) juice and never raw-mango pulp.

The moulds are threaded as a garland or a cheerful festoon that celebrate the wooden mishti-moulds of Natun Bazaar and as such Natun Bazar itself as the very halidom of the Bengali sandesh in its traditional moulded beauty. Yet, we’ve also hinted at their obsolescence by perforating the surjyamukhi discs liberally, but held hopes of a revival of these exquisite artisanal carvings to return the sweets — even if by option — to their glorious turn-of-the-century pulchritude. Let skilled artisans make the mishtis to be as simple and guileless as the greatest of their kind always were ; let them be created as the finest handmade chaana’r sweets in the world ; but let them also be presented at their decorative best without having to resort to facile frills that do nothing for them by way of taste or appearance.

Natun Bazaar is not a memory piece. It’s a call to arms in chaste guinea-gold (here, in a light vermilion polish) to renew, revive, revitalise, and restore a tragically forgotten Bengali industry — so much of it relying on the irreplaceably handmade — that once was essential to our sense of taste that always needed to comply with our reasoning of the aesthetic life as it must be led. Entirely realised in hand-wrought virtuoso naksha-work, the ornament is a tocsin for us to return to living, breathing culture what’s gradually being written out of it and into the history books. Why must we go to the Gurusaday Museum to see the stone/wood/clay mishti-moulds? The artisans and their next generation are among us. They’re trained and supremely capable but out of practice. All their skills require are genuine and generous patrons to make them flourish again. Natun Bazaar, the jewel, makes that a potent and everlasting quest.

Rarely do such incorporations happen in solid gold jewellery, even less so in naksha-work ornaments. But this Sita-Har that you see here — with its side pieces and spacers strung through with four-lines of almost-baroque seed pearls, its floriated cartouche centrepiece featuring a ball-karai ball-jhur contoured full-length hanger, and below it, a pierced naksha bell pendant with a central naksha medallion and an identical fringe to the centrepiece but this time with a polished ball-karai clapper included — did require us to include a segment of Mrs. Debasmita Saha's Thakurma's belt, in fact it's buckle, in the design of it.

THE CARTOUCHE CENTREPIECE
The chased wreath of hyacinths with the central rose is entirely hand-wrought and fitted onto the shaped base-plate which has a subtly raised border to accentuate and strengthen it. Zoom into the floriated naksha to see how it's fitted in place with wires on four sides tied discreetly to the stalks of the plants.

THE BELL PENDANT
Beautifully articulated in pierced naksha with a frosted medallion in the middle sporting a solitary Arabian jasmine in full bloom and delicate rock jasmine surrounding it to complete the pendant, all encased in a chased rope as the outline of the bell.

THE SIDE-PIECES AND SPACERS
Four miniature pierced naksha cartouches that reflect the centrepiece, each with a single Arabian jasmine (including stems and leaves) in them, form the side-pieces, two on each pearl 'band'. Between them are the all-important blade spacers, barely perceptible, that help keep the semi-baroque seed-pearl strands from fouling each other. The endpieces are simple too, the ones that attach to the cartouche and bell pendant much like the blade spacers while those to which the tassel is fixed are in the form of the classic looped triangle.

THE PEARLS AND THE TASSEL
Here too, no attention to detail is missing. The braided tassel in gold and ivory is made by hand by our patwa and fitted to the Sita-Har. It matches and coheres with the precious metal and pearl combination. The pearls, of course, could have been more regular and round but that wouldn't have given the Sita-har the 'feel' of a hundred-year-old goyna which Debasmita's grandmother's belt buckle sets as the essential tone for this jewel.
In those times there were no 'farmed' freshwater pearls. Mikimoto, with his cultured pearls, was established, yes, but India, with its busy trade connections to all continents, preferred natural pearls from the Basra coast. Those strands were by character not perfectly shaped (except the graded ones that were, even then, frightfully pricey) and the pearls chosen here adhere to the historicity of the belt buckle, reimagining the whole jewel as it would have been had it been designed and made in the early twentieth century.

QUESTIONS, ANSWERS, AND A WISH.
Fragments of memory, the tesserae of life, so to say, are indispensable markers of our ties to the past and the people in it, those who meant something to us and affected our life permanently in ways wondrous and delightful. Jewels as heirlooms are often carved up between inheritors, mostly if they be a squabbling many. What can one one do in such circumstances, say, when a forebear's jewelled necklace is broken into six parts to give half-a-dozen beneficiaries? Exchange the jewel? – Melt it down? – Sell it or pawn it? – Preserve it as a token for posterity? – Or preserve it for prosperity as an integral part of a personal goyna?

You know, the answer to that will be easy if you can discover which part of this guinea gold and pearl Sita Har, specifically, holds the belt buckle. Tell us.

And, in your comments, or through inboxing us, feel free to ask us about bits and pieces of jewellery you may have of your Ma/Dida/Thakurma or any ancestor for that matter, which you may like to incorporate in some new fine gold ornament for yourself much in the manner Debasmita did. It'll keep your forebears immortal and will also immortalise you, precisely in the way this Sita-har has enshrined the spirit of Debasmita by keeping not only alive but perpetual the memory of her beloved Thakurma.

GRATITUDE
For her nobility, her depth of consideration, her trust (she ordered here, left for America [she's been resident there for quite some time now], and returned to take delivery), her custom, her superb taste, and the fathomless capacity to love she holds in her heart, we thank Debasmita with utmost sincerity.

The ornament — a creation that stems primarily from authentic intergenerational love — is named, as it must be, in her honour.

In the west, the Art Deco movement followed from where the Belle Epoque and Art Nouveau phases lef...

In the west, the Art Deco movement followed from where the Belle Epoque and Art Nouveau phases left off. It eschewed the spontaneous naturalism of Art Nouveau and those bows and festoons of the Belle Epoque period to focus on strong geometric forms and motifs, “the bold use of gemstones”, and arresting designs.

Introduced in the 20s and 30s, Art Deco jewellery rapidly grew in popularity among connoisseurs who were looking for something beautiful but progressive to adorn themselves with, popularised by those such as Coco Chanel and Jean Patou.

Art Deco jewellery in return made certain that its inherent fierceness was never compromised.

Just like the women of the era – who campaigned for their voting rights, defied convention, and went, bejewelled, to underground bars, in order to cock a snook at the authorities – whose tastes determined the course of style, Art Deco emerged upon the design-scene and quickly went about modernising things, though in a very disciplined manner.

Now, open the M.B.S catalogue of the 1940s to page ‘L’. There on the left, top, is this design as a woodblock printed necklace, its weight an airy “4 to 8 tolas”. But the jewel shown is in plain gold while the one we were asked to do is set with rubies and pearls. Variously called the ‘Cleopatra’ necklace or a ‘Metro’ design, the references are to the meticulously measured sunburst so very characteristic of Art Deco style.

We were commissioned this necklace and earrings by a longtime patron who values her privacy intensely and chose to remain unnamed. The criticality of the order was the changing of the gold ‘chaktis’ to collets that would hold the stones and this we did with aplomb, sorting and choosing the most appropriate freshwater pearls and Thai rubies to embed.

Entirely composed of solid gold rings that are carefully graduated and formed into fifteen panels linked to each other using vanishing hinges, the jewel is a study in composition. The magnificent array of colour-toned (though not entirely) gems in cerise and white raises the necklace to monumentality and ensures it’s a head-turner, the collets making the stones seem larger and more prominent than they actually are. Also, the Art Deco rigour is evident and this at once gives the ornament a definite classical idiom while its reinterpretation with the rubies and pearls imparts to it an aesthetic attitude firmly contemporary and quite timeless.

The earrings — conceived as three graduated bars of which the outer two are of pavé-set pearls while the one in the middle is a row of rubies set in collets — are stunning in their simplicity, eschewing completely the rings of the necklace while being the matched earpieces to it. That succeeds largely because of the combination of stones but also due to the fact that when worn on the ears and not in as close a proximity to the necklace as in the picture, the earrings indeed do a fine job of reflecting the sunburst form of the latter while managing to be strong enough of personality to be triumphant as independent jewels.

All in all, an eminent demi-parure, in 18K yellow gold and precious gemstones, that takes us back a century to a gracious yet avant-garde era and at the same time transports us elsewither with rare and succinct elegance where what awaits us is nothing but an aureate eternality.

We imagined we’d reversed the peacocks and settled them in the high heavens so that they may for ever roam free among the clouds. But, lo and behold ! – they, in their extravagant gratitude, wove from their trains instead a parade of swirling clouds that became a lunate garland of gold with them in the centre, their ruby eyes sparkling with joy and the lone chuni pear-drop balancing the contrast of red and gold with remarkable effectiveness.

Realised in pure guinea-gold (given a hint of vermilion polish) using the pierced-naksha technique, the hansuli is delicate and lacy and very very light, the last because so much gold, to form the the swirling clouds, has been chiselled out. There’s drama here ; the scrollwork exquisitely wrought ; the twin peacocks holding forth in the centre.

In the matched earrings, save the paisleys and acorns in the middle, everything’s drawn from the hansuli – the swirling clouds, rubies for the eyes and the drop, and, of course, the mayur itself, or Nemali as the people of Uppada might term the peacocks –– and, as a result, resonates well with the necklace.

But, these aren’t the clouds of Aristophanes, those which were the patron goddesses of thinkers and dreamers. No, these have been dreamt up by the peacocks who, in their thankfulness for being blessed with a liberty divine, have created this arabesque of golden clouds and made of it a garland of honour.

It is then as well a nidus, intricate and aureate, that symbolizes our gratitude for the wholesome independence we’re all blessed with.

Look! — there He is in the middle in that stance of rapture, with His flute to His lips, the melody calling to Him a bevy of peacocks but also the flora of the forest that crowds around Him as if to create a bower resplendent with the most exotic blossoms and then to transform this celestial event into a universal celebration of mystical love.

Everything is as it happened or, to be precise, as it was envisioned to happen, for none of us have been witness to this incident, ethereal and ecstatic both. Yet it stays in the garbha-griha of our heart, this dance of Lord Krishna and the peacocks (for he did dance with them when they clamoured for him to), after which he was gifted by their King their precious feathers with the request to wear them always on His crown. He does so, even today, as we all know.

This is only an attempt to enshrine a glorious moment, among many, of the charming and gracious Lord — here going by the epithet Srinath — who with His flute and His incandescent beauty brings to life in pure guinea-gold the idyllic Vrindavan wherein He engages in a celestial dance with the peacocks. His aura — realised in the dazzling darkness of His skin and the halo, like a single large peacock feather, that encircles His head — sets alight this lovingly hand-chased hand-polished Sita-har that takes its shape from our Tree of Life pendant, so much so that it's He who you see first, framed within the ornamentally floriated naksha centrepiece. And the ample ghungroos add music to the ornament, their tintinnabulation making palpable His terpsichorean delight.

Commissioned by Mrs.Shritama Chakraborty (of whom you'll get to know more in a later post), who wanted Lord Krishna as an integral part of her jewel, this design was the one she approved among several that we presented to her. The Shritama-Srinath goyna holds special meaning for her but is of no less significance to all you who have sought the love supreme. It is, of course, named after her as our tradition has always been. But she's not alone in the title, she has with her her eternal consort Lord Srinath Himself, who remains inseparable from her not only by name but by spirit as well, thus making them both immortal in time.

With Lord Krishna as Srinath holding forth in the heart of the universe and with Shritama as Lakshmi aureating the greatness of the heavenly couple, this Sita-har becomes itself an otherworldly ornament that enshrines the Eternal Lover whose divine ardour envelopes you and transports you as His partner for life to the sacred paradise of Vrindavan.

At that time, we’d stated : “Diamonds aren't our forte, you know that. We've declared this in the past. Yet, some of the city's (and the country's, we daresay) best and most experienced hands work with us in realising bespoke orders we take up so that whenever you want something really special and are willing to pledge yourself towards acquiring it, we're there for you.”

In the intervening years, we’ve been regularly asked to make diamond ornaments — all bespoke, of course, and almost all in 18K gold — and as of now are happy to fulfil orders to a more disciplined schedule.

Done in the rare tol-parh work, just like the pashas, the flowers, all three of them, have eight curved petals, and three graded melee diamonds (two in the smallest flower’s petals) are grain-set into each of them. In the centre of every bloom, a raised bucket collet holds a suitable solitaire.

Interlinking the flowers delicately but securely are single baguettes, with the pair above the topmost ChaltaPhul fronting the loop of the pendant. The dainty but perfectly proportionate drop in which this cascade of Chalta blossoms culminates is the only marquise diamond of the jewel and it completes the pendant with a flourish.

Few are they who are discerning enough in these times of immediate gratification to order bespoke diamond jewellery for themselves or their loved ones. There’s a glut in the market for diamond readymades, and you’re spoilt for choice. And “offers” abound. Still, if ever you want a handmade, hand-set, hand-polished, diamond ornament made to your taste, and consider the waiting time reasonable — seeing as to how the goyna’s not meant for any one lifetime but countless many different lifetimes — then do come to us and we’d be happy to design you either just the jewel you’d always dreamt of or one that you never knew you’d always desired deep within your heart.

Either way, the ornament shall be both beautiful and meaningful such that it’ll brook no separation from you — forever.

Take care to examine in detail the workmanship. Three kinds of settings are on display : grain, cover-collet, and channel. Rich yellow 18K gold (a special alloy is used for this) for the links, walls of the bucket-collets, and parts of the undersides of the flowers contrast with the rhodium-polished petals, prongs and covers in this stunning pendant that actually doubles up as an equally eye-catching brooch, if you choose to use it as such.

Every aspect of design, manufacture, setting, polish and finish is personally seen to before the jewel’s validated.

And, to quote from the Hirer ChaltaPhul legend from three years ago :

“There are disadvantages to these handmade diamond ornaments as well –– the first being price. They're really not comparable cost-wise to their mass-market counterparts. Then, there is the matter of manufacturing time –– these take longer, much longer. Lastly, they can never be as light as the casting variety.

“Yet, the stamp of nobility, elegance, and quiet splendour is evident the moment you lay your eyes on the pendant. There's a distinct eminence to them, as if they'd been drawn out from a genteel time to take their place in today's incondite world.

“As such, the Hirer ChaltaPhul Pendant holds within its heart a silent appeal to support handmade not just in plain-gold jewellery but in diamond and gem-set gold jewellery as well.”

As for the elegant and ever-generous Ms.Maitrayee Sen, who ordered this ornament to match her pashas, she continues the crusade.

You’re welcome to join.

Those who might have once subscribed to a film magazine called Star & Style will perhaps still recall a stunningly beautiful Simi Garewal on the cover of its October, 1972 issue where she’s seen wearing a choker along these lines, though it is much larger, longer, is enamelled, and uses pearls extensively.

The matched pashas are rather plain : just a framed labangaphul with a trio of the jhilimili chakti-drops. Given that they are sweet, they’d also be more substantial (and eye-catching!) if the half-jhumka were included.

Chased by hand and then pierced to bring about the perforations, each chhela labangaphul panel stands out for its artistry, and the whole jewel for its glamour, with resolute economy. This is a light ornament, but make no mistakes, it’s not only the lightness of its guinea-gold weight that should attract you but the lightness of being so inherent to its nature. It’s this latter characteristic that lights up the choker and makes it a goyna that brings fun and happiness with it.

“A jewel for the good times”, you might say. Actually a jewel for anytime, if you want to make each moment count as a happy one.

Fragments of the past can be gathered together and can be moulded into a jewel such as this that can reimagine good tradition for the woman of today. Often enough you’ve heard the term ‘retro’ being used for revivalist articles, and just as often such labelling is erroneous for it presumes a reiteration of history. The Labangaphul Jhilimili Choker is not such a jewel. It doesn’t repeat anything but does refer to much of what was good about then when the authenticity of taste mattered, genuine sophistication mattered, original creativity mattered, virtuoso craftsmanship mattered, and conjures out of it a modern classic that’ll surely stand the test of time. Also, for whatever it’s worth, the ornament is entirely hand made. That alone is a virtue, unspoken, which guides your feelings towards the jewel’s inner beauty just as the jewel directs everyone to yours.

The central section, made entirely of hand-assembled mesh using movable rings upon which the barfis are laid out, has the feel and texture of fabric — in fact, it is pliable. Bracketing it are two identical pierced-naksha friezes of flowers and plants in strict striations. An elongated pipe with ball clusters all along it hangs below the lower frieze and completes the jewel, giving it the requisite amount of air and volume to offset the avoirdupois of the rectangle, while the fan-shaped plaque in the middle — also in pierced-naksha, and with a ball border — seems to mysteriously float above the gold 'cloth'.

The entire pendant hangs from a slim polished-pipe with a makar at each end, and to the mouth of these is attached the teota-kadma har that concludes, also, in a pair of makars. It's as though they were holding up the har as a celebratory festoon. And that this necklace is — celebratory. And, very, very beautiful.

If you've been to Phalodi, near Jodhpur, in Rajasthan, and stayed at the Lal Niwas, you'll know where the patterns and motifs of this Bengali version of the Rajputi Aar have been chosen from. Made entirely of red sandstone, and extraordinary in its articulation of plant-life, this haveli, built in 1750, is a vast repository of the art of stone carving. Not all is in the stone though. The latticed wooden ceiling of a bedroom next to ours is what we drew the gold 'cloth' from, and the makars are, well, a deft Bengali touch even though the creatures seem increasingly popular pan-India. What's quintessentially Bengali are the gold kadma beads of the har. Of course, naturally, the entire workmanship (intricate as it is) of the ornament is Bengali — and that's most evident in the jewel's detailing.

A marvellous, magical bit of Rajasthan recreated in guinea-gold, in Bengal, for an esteemed client who lives in Singapore. Her commissions, always a challenge but even more of a pleasure, help revive the art of jewellery-making in India.
It couldn't be more timely. Dhanteras, too, is a direct import from the Northern and Western States, and certainly from Rajasthan. This time, let's celebrate it at Lal Niwas.

Madam,

Subject : To and Fro Transport Booking for Your Tou...

Madam,

Subject : To and Fro Transport Booking for Your Tour to Bengal in Late October, 2023.

We are in receipt of your request for a sky-elephant of large size and sufficient experience to convey you and your children (a sum total of five persons) to and from Bengal, in India, during the penultimate week of October, 2023.
As we understand it, the travel agents responsible for your transport mistook your vehicle of choice and allotted you a flying horse (of fine specimen though, we may aver) which was wholly undesirable and inappropriate for you and your family.

We assure our best service at all times, having been suppliers of regal and reliable customized transport for the better part of seventy years.

As is our practice, we provide a large decorative parasol with each of our sky-elephants, but being a bespoke service have included four more for your children, one pair of small and another of medium size. It would be prudent to mention that these handcrafted wonders sport marquise ruby-studded borders (except the small-sized ones) and are each fringed with seed pearls. The medium and small parasols are suspended (the latter above the former) from ruby encrusted single-pradip hangers — that make them look like jewelled tassels — for ease of usage.

The sky-elephant or Nabhogaja, needless to say, comes decorated with rubies as well from its trunk to tail, and its caparison and anklets are of chaste naksha.

As a sign of goodwill, and the fact that we’re deeply honoured by your enquiry, we enclose a small memento of your sky-elephant transport and the parasols in hand-wrought guinea gold for you to approve. As soon as we have your consent, we shall despatch the Nabhogaja, with all bells and whistles, to be at your service at the appointed place and hour.

Considering the sky-elephant to be a more favourable vahan for you (the flying-horse, we have been told, is seen as indicative of conflict and drought) as it denotes peace and wealth, we hope you shall be pleased with our selection of animal and its accoutrements thereof.

As regards emoluments : please be informed that your satisfaction is our greatest priority and your journey being a beautiful and peaceful experience our highest concern. For those of divine realms, such as you, we do settle our invoices in exchange of blessings. How much you shall reward us with, we shall leave to your decision, after you have assessed the quality – in terms both material and intangible – of our services.

Thanking you and awaiting your kind reply, we remain,
Yours sincerely,
The Nabhogaja Bhromon Co. Pvt. Ltd.
171/1A Kailash Parbat Enclave
Stairway-to-Heaven, Tibet.
Pin - 100019.

Encl : Handwrought guinea-gold mementos : Nabhogaja (with Parasol) Pendant on vermilion cotton thread, and Double Parasol Earrings.

Remember how the Firebird has pearls in her beak which she drops over peasant settlements so that they may never want for food or comfort, or how she steals the golden apples from the tree in the regent’s garden to distribute them among the poor? It’s a study in altruism, it is, the story — and this necklace. Think : A jewel in which the magical Firebird is represented can only be for those who while affording this recherché guinea-gold ornament will always be of the mind to equally contribute to the betterment of the less privileged.
We’re not saying that philanthropy is a condition to wear such a jewel, only that wearing such a jewel probably indicates your ability to think beyond yourself and provide immeasurable value towards society in general.

The Firebird of the folk tale is supremely powerful : just one of her golden feathers has enough magic to protect from any kind of harm. The necklace of this beloved story is just as powerful, and its apotropaic strength can be felt in its construct — the form and detailing at once pulchritudinous and iconic.
The matching earrings – comprising the Firebird, a hint of the tree, and beneath them both a graduated cascade of three lanterns – is a fitting companion to the neckpiece.

We’re in good company, august even. Stravinsky made a career out of composing the music for The Firebird commissioned by the great Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev who premiered the ballet in Paris, 1910, to tumultuous acclaim.
Strongly symbolic of beauty, magic and rebirth, the story now becomes immortalized in guinea-gold as this magnificent pierced-naksha necklace that’s just as decorative as it is talismanic.

After all, we do need a little help in bringing out our true beauty ; a bit of magic is essential to life ; and we are, as we are, reborn over and over again in one lifetime depending on how long we take to discover our real selves.

Here then we present to you The Firebird Necklace-Earring Suite as a metaphor in gold for the magical, beautiful, powerful You.

In France, the game is called ’effeuiller la marguerite’, and in the true French tradition of romance, whether worthy or futile, escalating or receding, says:
“elle (il) m’aime, un peu, beaucoup, passionnément, à la folie . . . pas du tout”, which translates to :
“he/she loves me a little, a lot, passionately, madly . . . or not at all !” On pulling off the last petal, the phrase spoken is supposed to represent the truth about the object of the romancer’s affection.
It’s wise, then, to be careful of the flower to pick while playing this game. Better instead to enshrine this blossom of romance in pure guinea-gold as an elegant wreath that could as well denote the kind of love that lasts forever because, come what may, the jewel certainly will.

With that in mind comes this svelte Belle-Epoque-style necklace, the earrings of which we’d showcased last week.

The “sinuous swirls, gem-encrusted flowers, and spare leaves” of the earrings find their way into the necklace as well, which is entirely composed of those lissome blossoming vines in distinct sections, interspersed with curvy cartouches that each hold within it a solitary marguerite, as if to reassert its place in the hearts of all you who are true lovers and romancers.
The central sun is gentle in its magnificence, and the cascading fronds beneath it culminate in a kindly pair of leaves with a single pearl hanging from it. This draws from the drop, also a tiny pearl, that swings freely below the sweet sun beside which are two daisies, happily playing sentinel. These, the sun, and the cartouches are new to the neclace that otherwise replicates the flowers and vines of the earrings. Set with pink rubies and sized seed pearls, this isn't any old daisy chain at all but in fact an elegant garland of fructuous phul-lata-pata that not only proclaims inviolable love but also ensures its continuance. In a simple and heartfelt manner, it becomes a billet-doux of beauty and serenity that transcends the love romantic to champion the love that remains when every kind of love has been ascended, defended, experienced and established, and which is finally distilled into pure devotion and attachment.

As for where this came from? —— Look, few of you would’ve been bereft of a visit to Paris, a city that for long has been considered to be synonymous with love. But just outside of it, in its northwestern suburbs, you’ll find in the park of Chateau Maisons-Laffitte, at the Place Wagram, right at the magical fountain in the middle, a surround of light pink and white marguerites. There’s an elderly lady who sits on the garden side and makes little posies and bands of the daisies to sell —— intertwining the flowers with leafy vines foreign to the blooms, yet of remarkable companionship when combined, as if they were always meant to be together —— but the ones she carries in her basket aren’t plucked from the beds around the fountain. She probably brings them along with her from some village nearby, and is seen merely till such time that she exhausts the blossoms to weave and arrange. And she only comes on Sundays.

Things germinated for this necklace from here.
When you do go to Paris, and if you can, visit the place. The lady may no longer attend to her duties as a flower-seller (she was rather advanced of age then) but the marguerites in pretty rows, in all their elegance and grandeur, will be present alright. You’ll find this necklace among them.

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(In the introductory paragraph, the game part and French language portion has been taken from the internet, in accordance with our admission of not really being anything close to what one could call a Francophile. We can barely read, comprehend or pronounce the French language, let alone write in it. The language of the marguerites at Place Wigram, however, is one of love and beauty such that it’s universally acknowledged and understood)

As for the medallion, framed by a row of polished studs, that's realised in chaste pierced-naksha, it holds within it the familiar rose of the Paroma pasha and pendant which you've seen in many guises since it was first revealed in June,2015 but not quite in the way that this is articulated, with a coral in the central rose, and a turquoise and two pearls in a smaller bloom and the rosebuds respectively. Likeness notwithstanding, this just has to be the Rosa Indica Sertulata - which Redouté also indicates to be 'Le Bengale à Bouquets' in his almost life-size coloured stipple engraving of the flower - immortalized through immaculate workmanship, no less masterful than the artist's loving strokes of watercolour, in pure guinea gold.

Malmaison exists, today, as a museum. Here, Napoleon's and Josephine's living quarters have been meticulously recreated so that you might actually imagine them still occupying the sumptuously decorated spaces. The legendary gardens are gone, though. Only six acres remain of the nearly 1800 that the estate occupied, a major part of it being sold. The original roses - at least a good lot of them - survive.

Wherever she is, Josephine need not worry about her Rosa Sertulata: that shall remain enshrined in gold for ever and ever.

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(This legend to this ornament, the choker itself, and its naming have been made possible by the kind gift of a rare hard-cover edition of “Roses for an Empress —— Josephine Bonaparte & Pierre-Joseph Redouté” by Mrs.Gopali Chakraborti-Ghosh to whom this jewel and, henceforth, all the roses at Malmaison are dedicated).

Naturally, the goyna having transformed from a torque to a band, the tapering of the former to its makar-mukh ends was not required and it is, as a result, shorter by measurement but not in the least in terms of coverage which, in fact, is generous as far as chokers go.

Being a bespoke jewel, a fitting is always advised. Besides, as is the case with adaptations of any kind, what you leave out is critical to the success of the same story in a new form that could prove more popular and of wider acceptance. It should have all the virtues of the original but must speak that same narrative in its own unique voice.

For those who'd still like to know of its design provenance and method of manufacture, we've included below the relevant excerpt from the Latifa-Hydrangea Hansuli's legend :
"The name of the jewel comes from the central arrangement of little flowers that draws directly from the rare Latifa buti (named after the master weaver who designed it, Latif Mian) of the traditional Benarasi weave. The golden hydrangeas are fantastical, of course, because they’re never ever creepers, scrolling or otherwise. Here, in this magic garden, they’ve become sturdy vines of the kind you’d find on the baroque Beldaar borders on Benarasi sarees. While those are Persian-influenced Mughal patterns of continuously scrolling vines, ours gives it a heady east-west twist with the hydrangeas.

In honour of Latif Mian, whose glorious buti design graces the central panel of the jewel, and the rest of the virtuoso naksha infill provided by the Beldaar hydrangea patterning, we present to you the Latifa-Hydrangea Hansuli. Made with bare hands working with iron tools a century old, the ornament, here, is finished in vermilion that, if you want, you can change to a natural rich-yellow-, blackish antique-, or gero-polish."

This panel pendant, in all its pierced-naksha glory, traces its origin back to Cambridge, England, where on Mill Road there used to be a quaint toy shop called Touchwood managed by a kindly German lady. As the name suggests, they sold mostly wooden toys, all hand-made or -assembled, and had the most magical window display (there were two bay windows, actually) ever among toyshops.

A marble run, exquisitely put together like a birdhouse, saw little robins (or at least that’s what we thought they looked like) fitted into a standing rectangular structure decorated with flowers and medallions. The birds were placed cleverly in a way such that when a marble was placed in the beak of the top one, it would tilt down and drop the glass ball into the beak of the next bird, which would then send it to the next one, and like this the marble would travel from beak to beak of all four robins and would finally drop to the stand at the bottom with a soft thud. It looked simple, and was too. But the delight it gave us all – the elders, young ones, and babies – was infinite and unencumbered by strategy or competition. This was a game of great and equitable pleasure and was more than perficient in its motive of keeping toddlers engaged in a creative pastime.

The fringe benefit was that parents and seniors were just as motivated to spend time with the birds (and thus each other) that seemed to have all the patience and energy in the world to entertain an eccentric family. They were never going to abandon their home, unlike the very children for whom such games are meant : they, born into this artificial-reality century, who feel that to ‘make it big’ on this planet they must, must fly the coop.

Memories of the bird-and-marble game remain as clear as if it were yesterday that we’d ventured into Touchwood after chancing upon the shop on a not-so-short visit to Cambridge for a friend’s convocation. Memories of us and the children playing with it over and over again any time of the day, for days on end, stay even stronger in the mind and the heart.
Why suddenly it led to a jewel will never be known. Such organic aspects of the faculties we use to create things of beauty must never be subject to examination – they wouldn’t ever stand up to the scrutiny of science that seeks to know our inner workings. The mind, yes, can be sorted out. But it’s for us and us only to sort out the matters of our heart.

And here’s one that comes straight from the heart, and assumes the form of an enchanted aam-amla tree upon which the birds, their beaks open like in the game, are poised to pass on the pearls (instead of marbles) as fruits. The mangoes come in different sizes and are variously floriated, bevelled and frosted, with the larger ones on top showing prominent chhela veinage. The leaves are dramatically pinnate in their venation too and the amla-pearls are all set in individual collects. The anfractuous stems flourished naturally (just as those in such a plant would), as did the single ‘chamor’ blossom that you see at the apex of the panel.

A simple beading frames the tree, and the ball border ends in decorative brackets at the lower ends. The triangular chhela-wire edging is a favourite and anchors itself to a polished pipe from which hangs a merry line of pearl and gold-ball clusters, and the shining-sun medallion with its large pear-pearl drop helps in balancing the pendant which is, despite its delicacy, quite formidable. The pradip crown, which holds within it a sapling of the aam-amla tree, sits on a base of two simple kalkas. This crown, essential to the rustic regality of the jewel, also hides behind it the loop, which, here, harbours loose scarlet threads bunched together as a dramatically contrasted tie-back tassel.

But all this is information, that too provided without any concern for concision. Yet, it’s not enough, for human communication cannot ever be pared down to mere information. And no jewel, however cherce it may be, can escape the fact that it must ‘speak’ to its wearer first or else risk being reduced to a commodity. There’s no ‘message’ the ornament harbours within it but it does store your feelings, considerations and sentiments with great pride. Over time, the jewel is imbued with meaning and it becomes an indispensable repository of your thoughts and reminiscences and your independent views of the future. Your autonomy is secure in the goyna, and you relate to it as you would to your closest friend and confidante. It witnesses all your special moments and you trust its presence on you to bring you great and enduring happiness and peace.

Touchwood ! — is such a jewel. The shop it’s named after downed its shutters a long time ago but toys like the puzzle-blocks and memory tiles remain still in their storage boxes at home, neatly and with care kept for the next generation. The delightful birdhouse marble-run didn’t make it but the lucid memory of it has willed this recherché pendant into existence.

Virtuoso handcrafting in vermilion-tinged guinea-gold sees a child’s game from many, many years ago come alive as an elegant but monumental pendant that serves to be not just a rare jewel but also a tangible metaphor for the relationship between us and our offspring, between wearer and maker, and between hopes/dreams and reality.

We are — all of us — in this jewel, immortalised in gold. Search your heart to find yourself in it. Touchwood! — you will.

Two crescentic banners with their makar bearers, and a falcate bannerette beneath them — the pierced-naksha narrative of each quite the same as that of their forebear — are arranged in a three-step graduated form. All are fringed with seed pearls and beneath the lowest crescent is a ball-polished warning bell with its marvellous pearl-drop clapper. An earthy polish imparted to the jewel recalls the wet earth of the rainy season and its petrichor is clearly discernible.
Provided with a tassel to wear it as a necklace, it allows for chains to be fitted as well so you could convert it into a Sita-har. If required, even the tiers can be made detachable for you to wear in configurations that suit the scope of the occasion. Otherwise, you can wear it without reason. Like we love without reason.

Mayurpur, the Sita-har, is now given you in meticulously handcrafted guinea-gold as your secret garden of love in the form of a three-part necklace that triples the breadth of your passion. It debuts, as did the original, in a time of thunder and rain, and brings with it a certain charm that urges towards profound love the Vasantsena in you.

We're Indian women. It is only we who know and practice the divine art of raising the erotic to the spiritual.

From a 1984 tour of the south-east, the imposing merlion statue located at a point on the riverfront remains an abiding memory.

Less about identity and more to do with history and atmosphere is this choker strung with seven strands of freshwater pearls. It's a simple reiteration of the city-state as a crown colony —— that’s why the new guinea with a rather solemn Victoria on it —— and then an independent nation whose vernacular name, Singapura (the city of Lions), is epitomised by the two regal beasts that support and guard the banner in the middle.

In a concentric, ribbed frame sits the erstwhile regent while all around her wave-like swirls — referencing the choppy seas, where once only local fishing boats plied — together with ribbed and plain foliage, justifying another of Singapore’s sobriquets : that of being a ‘City in a Garden’, in pierced naksha, make up the frieze. A ball-karai edging goes round all four sides and the lions pose in a stately manner on their pearl ‘ashons’.
The terminal bars, like pillars, to which the pearl strings are tethered, are fluted and ball-topped but they could be a bit too long and may be reduced by one-eighth of an inch on each side.

Singapura comes alive in a lovingly handcrafted 22K gold choker that’s at once compact, charming and magnificent without having to shout it aloud. In the true spirit of the city-state (that’s also one of the greatest ports in the world) and in keeping with its incomparable civic discipline, the jewel is eye-catching and yet steeped in rich reserve.

Created for someone who could well be termed the First Lady of the Arts in Singapore, the whole choker resonates with her beauty and regality.
It’s not so much the form and motifs, though, on the jewel but its character that bestows upon it a power not known to goyna of such measured avoirdupois and volume. Very Singapura, don’t you think.

It’s not wise to tamper with heritage, more so when it’s of the kind that’s ageless. Whatever change may be effected thus has to in no way compromise the integrity of the jewel, the alterations subtle enough to not make them seem foreign.

A 'TAYARA' TURNS COLLAR

This jewel, from page 4 of the M.B.S.catalogue, is termed a 'Tayara', the Bengali equivalent of the tiara, and was meant to be worn as a prominent head ornament. The curvature was made more narrow to suit the neck and the independent sprigs, richly floriated, were drawn into a single vine that curled in the middle to surround an elaborate rosette and then organically meandered up the two sides to form the collar.

A COMBINATION OF STYLES

Now, the whole ornament is of the joroa flat-work style which means the anfractuous vine’s mildly undulated and its various flowers and buds realised almost on the same plane. The central rosette differs : it’s a double bloom that’s revealed using the turquoise collet in the middle to ‘pin’ the pearl flower into the turquoise flower, thereby raising the bi-coloured blossom above the rest of the vine in a manner that attracts the eye and makes the frieze come alive.

A CALIBRATED SETTING

The entire jewel is pavé set, with pearls defining the foliate parts and both pearls and turquoise carefully calibrated to distinguish the flowers. The sinewy stems of the vine are left polished yellow gold because, colour-wise, it’s the perfect contrast to the mukto’r pata and firoza’r phul — here the jewel exceed its limits of mere design and technique to become truly magical — and ably complements their rich and cheerful opacity.

THE MAGIC OF AUTHENTICITY

Look carefully. The collar isn’t symmetrical, even though it might appear to be so at first sight. It’s as if the plant has been left to its own design. And, in a way, it has. There is a distinctly organic aspect to it and there are at least three different kinds of flowers showing on the same vine. You’ll know that even more when you note the leaves, new and old, to be all the same –– except in the swirling centre where it seems the creeper has discreetly coiled itself into a plant of varying character that’s birthed the wondrous central bloom.

Everything’s left imperfect (zoom in to see closely the infringement of what constitutes a 'balanced' ornament) and unrestrained and gives rise to a core that’s proudly playful. Pulchritude, it seems, can also come from the lighthearted.

Lacking any pretence to any high symbolism whatsoever, the jewel has no layered message within it. In fact, there’s nothing hidden at all. It’s all right there for you to see in sweet guinea-gold worked upon with dexterous hands to carve out for you this magical vine of many flowers with a prima donna of a blossom at its heart –– all unnamed.

It's merely joyous, this jewel. And it’s so because it isn’t calculated in its beauty.

A CODA OF FREE-WILLED LOVELINESS

All things in life cannot be evaluated, calculated or even fine-tuned. Or even if they can, they shouldn’t be. What’s the point in assigning ourselves a life we know all about when if that selfsame life is left unknown, uncharted, it helps us glide from youth to senescence with a beauty that’s so much more glorious than what we could ever imagine.

The Labanya Latika collar, in all its free-willed loveliness, personifies this very precept of spontaneity in the way we might live our lives — adventitiously, intuitively, impulsively even, but always with great beauty.

Last October, we gave you the Aad-Bastar necklace with matched earrings. Drawing from its character, and borrowing a few of its design elements, we bring you this light and lovely threaded jewel that’s not a classic Aad and has no reason to reference Bastar iron-work. Yet the bosses, forming a graded trio, each with their ball surround and chhela wire flower, are taken directly from the earlier necklace, the barfi drops (down to their single-karai finial) and the four-leaf clover on the connecting rings from the earring.

Look to the flanks and you’ll witness a pipe rondelle, a teota piece and two fluted bicone beads strung together to extend and complete the necklace. The pipe rondelle is almost similar (the ball chokhas have come together here whereas in the original they are seen at the edges of the pipe), the teota piece identical. Only the bicone beads are new.

Strung in smaragdine cotton and with a single emerald set in the middle of the central topa, this necklace was commissioned by a client who wanted a lighter set of the same idiom as the Aad-Bastar : something more casual and suitable for day-wear, and that she felt was more her kind of goyna.

That’s what bespoke is –– all about you, your life story, but includes some part of ours as well, and the artisan’s whose brave and blessed hands make real the jewel of your imagination. It stands against every attempt by new world commerce to reduce authentic handicraft to mere product and the act of purchasing fine gold jewellery to vulgar consumption.

Remember always : your bespoke jewellery speaks your character, tells your story, and, in time, makes the wonderful history of you evident to not only those who shall one day be the proud custodians of your goyna but to all who know you and love you and care for what you care. Even the smallest of jewels such as this have the power to draw out your inner beauty. And they forever answer to you.

All your ornaments need not be remarkable or extraordinary in the grand sense. It’s enough for some just to be beautiful in the light of your beauty, virtuous because they garland your virtues — in that their remarkability and their extraordinariness, to you, is secure. The Teota-Topa-Tutan Necklace is one such jewel.

The brief was to realise the necklace in exactitude, including the aspect of age and patination of the original. The earrings, with their pearl drops, in absence of any to go with the actual piece, had to be designed to match.

The Form —— A Floral and Foliate Festoon :

Each leaf and petal is cut out by hand and then mounted on a frame. The tol-parh technique is used to undulate the surfaces of both, making the floral and foliate motifs alluringly palpable. Individual swags framing the large flowers are then linked together (each interspersed with a leafy spray of which there are four, the last two leading to the terminal boutonnières) and hung with dancing drops of leaves and pearls to form one continuous festoon. The collets on the sprays and flowers have been separately made and fitted in, making use of finely threaded posts that are turned into place. This you’ll never notice on your own, unless you turn the ornament to examine its structure closely. And why was this an integral part of the karigari ? —— because it lifts the centre up beyond the base of the petals and makes the jewel-flower that much more authentic. Also, the collets at the end of the swags are empowered to become a part of the form of the necklace, and this is imperative due to the fact that the eye sees the larger single diamonds as a continuous ‘line’ and that’s what gives the ornament continuity : the effect of an unbroken festoon.

The Setting Technique :

Pavé pervades, naturally, though the central diamonds, small and large, are all fitted into ‘glass’ collets with a sloping gypsy-setting to frame the gems and ensure the same idiom of craft prevails throughout the ornament. It’s a small detail, but a vital one in the experience of the final jewel.

The pearls on the dancing drops are like finials and are not set but rest on cups with a wire through their central bore holding them in place.

On the earrings, the larger pear-shaped pearls are capped and tied to the swag using twisted wires and a ring.

The Stones :

In the original necklace, all the diamonds were of the old brilliant cut and likely sourced from the famous Golconda mines. In this set, we have only modern brilliant-cut diamonds combined with farmed natural pearls, the latter all with bores. The diamonds are sifted for size and colour to ensure design integrity and a homogeneity of light dispersion.

Finish :

Quite in the manner the Edwardian jewels, in their time, would’ve been painstakingly put together, this set too has seen its share of disciplined manufacture. But there are reasonable differences. To start with, those — coming out of the Victorian era of mostly dark jewellery (remember, the Queen was in perennial mourning after her beloved husband’s passing and, as a result, made jet ornaments quite the staple of her time) — were deliberately set in platinum with an 18K/14K rose-gold backing to give them a brighter presence. In the case of our antique necklace, from which this one’s been drawn, the combination happens to be white and pink gold.

We did the new jewel entirely in 18K light-yellow gold which was then plated white with an oxidised finish on the surface. That imparted to it the necessary patina and as well the turn-of-the-century feel. Also, it provided for a yellow-gold option if in later years the preference of the wearer were to change towards the traditional Indian. The quality of stones would make the setting in natural gold no less mesmeric, but it wouldn’t have any more that inherent lightness of being.

It took three journeys to the workshop to get the polish-finish right. Still, it’s not perfect. If you magnify the picture, you’ll get to see glimpses of yellow amongst the dulled white, and even the white’s not even in places. Yet, perhaps it’s these very flaws that in some way determine the true character of authentic handmade jewellery and set its wondrously enduring beauty against the soulless consistency and clinquant orchidacity of machine-made or assembly-line ornaments.

Epilogue :

We aren’t greatly known for diamonds. But as an establishment specialising in bespoke we do have the resources to ensure the refinement required of jewellery set with all kinds of precious stones. While our metier leans more towards joroa, as far as setting-goyna is concerned, you’ll find our English- and European-influenced diamond ornaments are equally genteel of character and precise of craft. As for the designs, well, we and you create those together to achieve jewels of unique and universal beauty and timeless spirit.

The Mukto-Pushpa Hirer Mala is a case in point. If not for its delicate nature or the fineness of its manufacture, look to its flaws : if you find them, you’ll discover they raise the ornament from its material and decorative and mere stylistic value to a means of individual expression —— of art and life.

Today, after seventy days of involuntary solitary confinement, we return with a simple oxymoronic jewel : a light Sita-har. Deliberately, it includes a crucial separation of the chains from the centrepiece so that the jewel can be worn in two ways : as a spectacular mother-and-child hand-fan pendant or as a long necklace.

In the latter guise, the simple kamal-ball side-chains — with their triple-sphere coupling (where two of the orbs are half-polished and half-wire, the pair bracketing a gold rudraksha) — that connect to the detachable centrepiece ensure the lightness and reserve of the ornament.

When worn as a pendant, the double hand-fan motif, its form and intricate detailing inspired by the hand painted bamboo hath-pakha made by the Mahali tribe of West Bengal, soars in its pierced-naksha lata-pata infill, sabu-dana surround, and triangular wire-ball scallop with a fringe of split-ball and plain-ball thokas. Ideally, it should be strung on interchangeable bead strands or bright thread tassels in colours such as carmine, turquoise, or black. You will, for certain, look nothing short of spectacular.

But this isn’t a spectacular comeback. If anything, it’s merely one that’s of a quiet beauty such that it’s both meaningful and pulchritudinous. Its virtues are in its simplicity, understated elegance, and a sophistication that speaks of art at once personal and universal. It’s the very spirit and soul of You, handcrafted with undiluted love and immeasurable regard, in pure guinea gold.

We are ever thankful to be among You — the greatness and beauty of You — again.

Eye-minded as we are, we’ve chosen a triptych form for this choker to give you that loving couple, substituting the unknown white blossom (it looked much like the regular Juin) with the Arabian jasmine. The three panels refer to the three sides of the little shed that the climbing rose and the Mogori Sambac almost entirely wound themselves around. Joined with three straight rings that have been masked with roundels fitted on them, the parts seamlessly come together on the neck and, as a fringe benefit, make the choker — hitherto of fixed curvature — a distinctly flexible ornament.

The pierced chasing is the virtuoso work of a rather erratic naksha-wallah who, from time to time, forgets that there’s something called time we have to abide by. Often he lets the half-done work rest awhile so that he may return to it refreshed. Then, of course, it slips his mind . . . . You know how that story goes.

Still, his hands are blessed. And, with that, he has the eye to bring alive the imagined or, in this instance, the fondly remembered.

There are distinctions between the two plants but hardly of a nature significant enough to separate them. The frondescence is varied, as are the blooms, naturally. The heavy relief of the central rose stands out : a result of annealing and chasing the motif twice, or thrice even if required. The rope border is also chased and frames the frieze well, the entire work embellished further by the ball-karai beading. Unmissable here are the pearl-and-ball clusters that form a fringe along the bottom edge of the choker. It’s a charming way to complement the mukto-set flowers of the three panels.

Whether or not the actual vines remain, we don’t know. It’s been quite some time since we last visited the hills. They must still be there, just as lovingly interwoven into each other’s very being. We’ve immortalised them in this fascinating jewel which, even when it tends towards the spectacular, remains rooted in romance and beauty. There’s nothing sensational about it ; yet it commands attention in its own quietly stylish way. And timelessness is inherent to the very soul of the jewel —— a virtue it shall bestow upon its wearer as well.

Hand-wrought in pure guinea-gold with the fluent imprecision that’s the hallmark of every cherished work of art, the Mogori Rose Choker, with its aureate flowers and foliage, makes monumental the charming but trivial, and in doing so creates an ornament of great enchantment.

Reluctantly, the gatekeeper — aware of all the girls of regal lineage who had ended their lives braving the bramble, for dark magic caused the thorny bushes to wrap any entrant in deadly embrace — turned the key and let her through.

Briar Rose, intrepid as she was in adventure, was rather new to love. She hadn’t ever seen the prince but in her imagination yet felt a strong affinity towards him, as if she’d known him from childhood. She felt an urgent need to be with him, even though none of this would have happened if her brand new Grimmobile hadn’t blown a tyre nearabout the gate and which she’d gotten down to fix. It was then that a whiff of roses so overwhelmed her that she, like iron to magnet, gravitated towards the place. Once in, the thorny shrubs all advanced towards her as if to gherao her and then prick the very life out of her. One of the accursed barbed branches pierced and tore off a bit of her handsome black-velvet dress. Not too soon, not too late, the hour of completion of hundred years of the curse came to pass, and no sooner did the moment arrive than the rough bramble turned to bright and lush flora, and as Briar Rose proceeded towards the castle they made way for her just as the seas had once parted for Moses.

The wild flowers were irresistible to Briar Rose as her entire life she’d been a free spirit, roaming the outdoors as a common peasant would with no cares or airs of a princess. The King let her have her way, so beloved was she to him, especially after having lost his dear wife no more than a year and two moons from the child’s birth. She’d named her daughter Briar Rose for, unlike other children, the baby princess would tumble in nettles unscathed and pick roses by the stem, nary a thorn ever piercing her skin.

Now she picked lilies of the valley, her favourite climbing roses, a large daisy, bunches of wood anemones and a few musk mallows and fashioned from them a collar made of the strip of black velvet torn from her dress when it caught on the first thorns that greeted her. She laid the vines and leaves and flowers upon the cloth. Instantly, they turned pure gold and were presently encrusted with rubies and corals and turquoise and emeralds. Baroque pearls did the lilies of the valley become and some remained as buds of unknown plants.

Hand-engraved and formed in the tol-parh style, the foliage and flowers, together with the vines and collets, became a pleasant frieze that upon her sweet neck made the already beautiful princess even more lovely, a radiant happiness marking her face as she sought the long-lost prince who the world knew as Sleeping Beauty. She found him in the tower, lying on the floor in serene slumber, and she couldn’t help but kiss him, right there and then. As her lips, with a slight tremor, graced his . . .

In the centre, a larger polished crescent rests beneath an even bigger pierced-naksha one, each with a thick frill of ball-jhur, a kadma-drop on the upper moon and a plain ball-karai on the lower calibrating the voids between their curved ends. There's a kadma-drop below the smaller 'chandra' as well to balance things out. Since both of these contrasting magnified crescents (I learned how to enlarge the moons from my late great-uncle who'd developed a ray gun to shrink things and one to restore them to size, the latter being the one I use most, though he left them both to me, I being his favourite first-cousin twice removed) grace the entrance, they're supremely arresting in both their detailing and their arrangement. Those who'd like to shop for falcate moons will not be able to resist the pull of this festive Chandra Toran — they'll want the moon and get it too, or even a whole bushel of them if they'd like.

Whatever you do with the crescents, and there's no formal enchiridion for this — decorate your mantle with them ; keep them tucked under your pillow for your dreams to be pearly-hued ; make jewels, such as may be a choker, out of them to simply adorn yourself with (we've created a sample earring with graduated moons and a cascade of tiny spheres just to show you how lovely moon-jewellery can be) — remember to take care of them well so that their guinea-gold glow may never diminish and so that as natural heirlooms they may remain for generations infinite in your family and cast their gentle and comforting light upon each one of you who becomes their rightful custodian.

Conceived as a frieze of Ashoka flowers on a vine scrolling away on either side from a central eight-petalled blossom that replicates the floral disc atop the original pendant, the choker is at once svelte and highly distinct, its pierced naksha scrollwork a fine example of what Bengal’s authentic jewel-craft really is, especially when it comes to hand-chasing. The flowering vine is hemmed in on its upper and lower edges by a twined rope (that’s part of the single-sheet naksha) and then framed by a double row of carefully arranged half-spheres equally on top and below in a decidedly North-Indian fashion, giving the jewel a wonderfully macaronic character but one of clear sophistication as well. This choker knows what its doing and the effect its wearing will have on its owner, as well as on the sundry viewers all of whose heads it will nolens-volens make turn.

An occasion of great importance for an Indian Bengali mother who resides in England, and to mark it this jewel that bestows upon her the blessing of enduring joy. Our heartfelt gratitude to her for coming to us for her bespoke jewellery and affording us the opportunity to create for her a goyna that we’re certain shall stand the test of time, holding in every leaf and frond and flower within it the symbolic power to protect her from any harm. It’s not a talismanic goyna, this. But in its allusion to blossoms of the sorrow-less tree (again, Vishoka is another name of the Ashok gachh) it evokes, in pure guinea gold imparted our trademark cramoisy polish, the divine in our heart. The Vishoka isn’t any choker ; it’s a jewel that revels in its provenance in mythology but ensures through its meticulously handcrafted pulchritude that we live that mythology in gold.

In classical music the structure of a piece is built upon a theme that usually has a strong central melody which is later varied and repeated and is called a ‘variation’. After the first variation’...

In classical music the structure of a piece is built upon a theme that usually has a strong central melody which is later varied and repeated and is called a ‘variation’. After the first variation’s played, another takes its place but is different from the first variation and the theme as well in some other way. Such repetitions are at the behest of the composer and she/he may choose to have as many variations as may be required to complete the piece. This ‘theme and variation’ aspect of creation holds true for us as well, only that in our case the decision to have variations invariably comes from the customer. 

Consider the ‘Ashoka’ pendant we showcased here in December 2020, and you’ll immediately gather this to be a larger, more elaborate, and richer variation of that jewel.  

The “pierced naksha pasha-pendant of monumental simplicity and vivid imagination where a top-down view of the Ashoka tree results in scrolled leaves and dainty blossoms occupying every part of the curved dome” is perfectly relevant to this discal jewel as well.  

As for the craftsmanship :  in comparison to the original pendant, the beading’s as it is, but the floral disc that fronts the loop is gone, replaced by two no-show rings at the back of the curved dome. The vermilion polish remains, and the tassel as well, though the latter’s now in rare firoza as a tightly wound cotton-thread tube. This may not be to everyone’s liking (the original pendant had cochineal red for its tassel) but it makes for great drama ; and a very regal combination it is too, turquoise and gold. A spattering of rubies, emeralds, pearls and firoza have been added not just for decoration but to enliven the flowers and scrolling foliage that are left to spread themselves over the dome with complete abandonment. 

This time, kanpashas have been made with the pendant, and how elegant and powerful and aristocratic they look, that also at first glance. They can only get more attractive with age. A smaller version of the neckpiece, these recherché pashas are fabulous when worn as a demi-parure with the matched pendant, but when you wear them alone, they’re just as spectacular but more powerful.  

Just as in the Ashoka, the absence of any strong single motif in the pendant is evident. But there’s room now to accommodate more of the anfractuous wild plants and flowers and so the naksha is more elaborate, and exquisite, and tantalizingly palpable. It’s this pierced chasing, intricate and sapid, that raises the jewel to an unequivocal classic and as well an instant heirloom.  

Handcrafted in pure guinea-gold with respect and pleasure and pride and all that one feels when one is birthing a work of art, this first variation – Anganpriya – of the Ashoka pendant, made bespoke for a resident of Dubai, claims its independent stature as a jewel on the basis of its renewed personality. But because its heart remains true to the original, the name chosen for it is simply another name for the Ashoka tree. This pendant-earring set, though, be certain, will make splendiferous any 'angan' of the heart at all times.

Sometime in June, the venerated Cottage Industries held a textile exhibition at the Thyagaraja Hall where only handloom silks and cottons and linen were on display mostly as clothing and related ar...

Sometime in June, the venerated Cottage Industries held a textile exhibition at the Thyagaraja Hall where only handloom silks and cottons and linen were on display mostly as clothing and related articles but also, in a scattered way, as table and bed linen. Individual weavers and state-owned stalls commingled in no particular order and the place of origin of many of the purveyors was not indicated. Still, there were treasures to be found amidst the sleepy chaos of the place; sleepy because there was hardly an audience for such wealth of craft as may need more involvement than jostling through swarms of buyers with a grab-and-go mentality to pick some discounted readymade garment; sleepy because the stall owners were mostly dozing on the synthetic (not coir! — and this was a handloom show) carpet of their cubicles when we went, late afternoon; sleepy because what colour there was came from the fabric — the vendors demonstrating a listlessness so keen that it made them appear wholly etiolated.

Yet, this is precisely where, at a spare stall selling Assam goods, we found an intriguing ‘gamucha’ with the regal ‘Kingkhap’ motif on it, one end with it in the centre flanked by a butterfly-and-paisley pattern, and the other end with the order reversed.

The lady managing the stall, suddenly enlivened by a prospective customer, bade us reject the piece since it had water-stains on it. But the ‘Kingkhap’ had arrested us. Not uncommon or unseen on a ‘gamucha’ (they’re irreplaceable for binding wet hair with) in the basic form, here it was certainly quite unusual because below the paan-shaped badge was suspended a marvellously foliate joonburi pendant that further had four little upturned crescents hanging from it. This jewelled falcate-moon appurtenance clearly connected the ‘gamucha’ to us, related it to our calling, and asked for it to find with us its home. And so it did, and was washed — making the traditional red-on-white pattern bright and winsome — and used, and deliberated upon at length, and finally immortalised in gold. 

We picked a couple of gamuchas in the regular gos buta (tree motif) and ever-popular japi-pepa weave and included the Kingkhap gamucha with them. The stall lady even reduced its price because we were buying a shop-soiled article.

There’s no getting away from the fact that this necklace has come about from an Assamese gamchha (as it’s pronounced in Bengal), respected and revered in that State. In fact, it’s also called Bihuwaan when, during the Bihu festival, it's gifted to elders of the family. 

The Kingkhap motif, popularised by the Ahom dynasty (that ruled Assam for just about six-hundred years) as a symbol of their courage and splendour, is of course to be found on the richest of the State’s textiles such as its pure silks or Muga. The crux of the pattern is in the facing lions that allude to power and bravery, but the surrounding paisleys and foliage and a central tree speak equally of peace and plenty. In the necklace, this has been replicated in what’s called ‘figure’ naksha. The sparring lions have pride of place, naturally, but the flora that encompasses them is rendered with stunning symmetry on either side of the palmate plant in the middle. It’s all in pierced chasing, the heart of the Kingkhap centrepiece, and the surrounding naksha of leaves and fronds celebrates the regal beasts but also grants them a magical world to inhabit. A solid, scrolling flower border frames the scene and is in turn contained by a thick twisted wire that runs the outer perimeter of the emblem. 

Note also how at the top the border turns into a pair of Turkish acanthus leaves with a palm-like flourish between them. This part is crucial because that’s where the loop is placed. 

It’s also a splendiferous pendant, the Kingkhap centrepiece, for it detaches without fuss from the simple kamal-ball sasa-dana pati to function as an independent jewel that can be worn with a flat velvet band as a choker, or with a bound- or loose-thread tassel in high contrast as an ethnic ornament. All three versions look ravishing, the autochthonous ‘Kingkhap’ adapting with noble ease to each and retaining its royal bearing throughout.

The Joonjhulana earrings are matched to this ornament, and complete the humble gamucha’s  truly magnificent pairing of the Joonbiri and Kingkhap.

It’s all a very manly thing, this business of lions confronting each other, and the badge of honour, so to say, that the motif invariably becomes. It is, by provenance, a regal emblem after all. But women (and men) have worn it with pleasure on apparel for years and years, this pattern, often without the customary animals and only as a shape with varying infills. That’s changed forever now. With the guinea-gold Kingkhap necklace, the original lion insignia becomes a singular symbol of the strength of our muliebrity, worn with pride and indubitable fearlessness.

This is rare. And by that we don’t just mean the ornament — which is certainly unique in that it’s a near replica of a museum piece — but also the circumstances of its manufacture.

When a cli...

This is rare. And by that we don’t just mean the ornament — which is certainly unique in that it’s a near replica of a museum piece — but also the circumstances of its manufacture.

When a client asks for a jewel displayed in a museum to be adapted for her, it is indeed an extraordinary request ;  more so because to perfectly recreate an ornament from more than a hundred years ago with complete veracity of workmanship would seem, at least on the face of it, nigh impossible a task, the tools and techniques through time having been lost to reckless industrialization and the artisans who had the skills, tenacity and patience to craft by hand such recherché jewels all but fallen extinct. But we’re in Bengal. And boast the world’s best goldsmiths who also happen to be artists in their own right. Not only that, we have arguably the finest setters and pictorial enamellers as well. Nothing’s beyond us. And we’re up for a challenge any time.

In our ongoing series “Treasures in Museums”, we’d covered in January 2020 the  Museo del Gioiello in Vicenza that touts itself deservingly as "The First Jewellery Museum in Italy" where was held between 2018 and end-2020 a splendid exhibition in which this necklace was displayed in the the themed Symbol Room curated by Pascale Lepeu – Director of the Cartier collection for over 30 years. He selected the items for the Symbol Room where extraordinary jewellery illustrated the vital function of ornaments as enduring symbols of power, wealth, religion, and royalty.

We don’t know about the religion bit but the rest of the three are well in evidence with regard to the esteemed patron who commissioned the necklace. But since it’s not our design and because we weren’t asked to make radical or even innovational changes to the form and detailing of the piece, and because it’s a historic jewel, we can’t name it after her. Our emulous endeavour to recreate the jewel we hope will justify its title. But first, the caption to the actual ornament that’ll help you recognize it :

THE HISTORIC JEWEL

PARURE - GIOIELLERIA MARANGONI

Gioielleria Marangoni di Vicenza
Parure, Vicenza, late 19th century
yellow gold, enamel and turquoises
Private collection

An important and elaborate parure in yellow gold and enamel of the late nineteenth century consisting of a necklace, a brooch, a belt buckle, a pair of pendant earrings and a tiara. All the jewellery is made of yellow gold foil, worked from double hollow sheet, with turquoises and floral-inspired decorations executed in enamel. The degree of conservation is perfect and makes it possible to admire the excellent level of workmanship.

OUR JEWEL 

Recreated in fine cut-work in layers and with stellar engravings, the necklace has  been entirely handcrafted over six months during which time the initial shape-cutouts were discarded and the whole thing re-done. Regarding the enamel, too, we had a choice between the champlevé of the original or to use pictorial mina in the manner of the Battersea or Bilston enamels. We chose the latter as the surface on the plaques to be coloured was limited and we needed the floriated part to show clearly. 

Mildly off-white layers of thick white enamel, like ‘gesso’, form the base on which the painting is done. A transfer of the floral motif is then imprinted on individual surfaces and completed by hand. You’ll notice the variation between each corsage (no two are the same) and this sublime imperfection, much like actual flowers that are never alike,  is only because they’re entirely hand-painted. 

The spattering of turquoise around the plaques and within the interspersing pieces adds colour and richness to the jewel and makes what’s noble regal. Not to be missed is the decorative clasp on the plain bichha back chain. If not that then what could ever give away our manic attention to detail while designing and crafting your fine jewellery.

What else is there to say? If you, as our great patrons, choose us to make what you choose by way of fine gold jewellery, we'd invoke the divine to grant us the skills and the fortitude to accomplish your commission to your satisfaction and, hopefully, delight. 

The genteel lady for whom this was crafted has made known to us her joy and contentment at receiving the necklace. May this painstakingly wrought jewel not only match up to history but, on her, create new and happy history as well. And as the jewel steadies into its foreverness, may she who willed this necklace into being be conscious also of her own immortality in gold — in the purest, most beautiful gold there could ever be. 

Sometimes we do too much.   

From the form of this hansuli, you’ll recall easily our Grinling Gendaphul from December, 2018 that’s gone on to become something of a legend. The order...

Sometimes we do too much.   

From the form of this hansuli, you’ll recall easily our Grinling Gendaphul from December, 2018 that’s gone on to become something of a legend. The order was to reproduce one in exactitude, but to size. We didn’t, and we did, respectively.

Let’s see how much of that much-loved jewel remains in this one : 
a)The flowers-and-vine pattern takes the form of a scrolling creeper that occasionally breaks into a thick globular cluster of blossoms.
b)A buli-frosted makar marks each end. 
c) The triangulated wire-work with a ball at each tip goes across the lower arc of the ornament, beneath the ball border.
d) The tiny ball-thokas (with a large polished ball in the centre) travel the entire bottom edge.
e) A row of hollow ball beads edges the jewel.
f) The pierced naksha remains just as exquisite and intricate.

And what did we do extra, thinking we had the creative license to reshape a legend : 
a) Gone are the pot marigolds, replaced here by a superbly rendered society of smooth hydrangeas, their round clusters palpable in relief and each bloom, within the flowerheads, distinct. 
b) In the centre, the large double-blossom is replaced by an arrangement of smaller flowers that seems to rise from a shallow vase or bowl. These are not specifically defined, but if you, without blinking your eyes, look at just the mid-section fixedly for about ten seconds, you’ll notice how they’re carefully arrayed to form an ishkabon- or paan-shape.
c) The foliage is now more defined, the pinnate and parallel venation of the leaves having been made clear to the eye and to the touch, while the way in which those leaves are ordered is more classical than natural as, say, in the border of a heritage saree.
d) Finally, the perforations are certainly more minute and elaborate, the cut-out parts resulting in a delicate jaali.

Created with all good intentions of reflecting the luminous character of its owner, her splendid taste, and as well address her profession of being a designer-purveyor of fine sarees, we made the vital mistake of deriving an iconic jewel from a legendary one, which is fine in general — if the ornament were to be made for the showroom and not against a specific commission — but isn’t justifiable on the grounds of the gap it leaves between the buyer’s wish and our interpretation. As a result what we though would delight, disappointed.

The name of the jewel comes from the central arrangement of little flowers that draws directly from the rare Latifa buti (named after the master weaver who designed it, Latif Mian) of the traditional Benarasi weave. The golden hydrangeas are fantastical, of course, because they’re never ever creepers, scrolling or otherwise. Here, in this magic garden, they’ve become sturdy vines of the kind you’d find on the baroque Beldaar borders on Benarasi sarees. While those are Persian-influenced Mughal patterns of continuously scrolling vines, ours gives it a heady east-west twist with the hydrangeas.

From Grinling Gibbons’s  wondrous wood carvings to the traditional brocade weave of Benaras is a journey between two wholly different worlds, a transition that we felt could be aesthetically achieved with carefully considered changes that incorporated characteristics of the latter while aspiring to “the loose and airy lightness of flowers” so intrinsic to Gibbons’s woodwork. 

But you know, such ingenuity, if it can be called that, may not always bear the desired result because while it does try to rise beyond customer expectations, in attempting to do so it also subverts them to a certain extent.

We should have known our measure.

Anyway, in honour of Latif Mian, whose glorious buti design graces the central panel of the jewel, and the rest of the virtuoso naksha infill provided by the Beldaar hydrangea patterning, we present to you the Latifa-Hydrangea Hansuli.  Made with bare hands working with iron tools a century old, the ornament, here, is finished in vermilion that, if you want, you can change to a natural rich-yellow-, blackish antique-, or gero-polish. 

Compare it if you will to the earlier goyna and let us know if you think this stands, or doesn’t, up to that by your aesthetic standards and whether or not our unwavering quest for truth and beauty is sustained by this design.

Awaiting your judgement, we remain.

The Juna Mahal choker of early 2018 vintage has seen great patronage. From it was drawn a pair of pashas in August last year. Much has been said about those, and the legend of a crumbling 13th cent...

The Juna Mahal choker of early 2018 vintage has seen great patronage. From it was drawn a pair of pashas in August last year. Much has been said about those, and the legend of a crumbling 13th century desert palace is told yet again by the parakeet partners who, in love for life, have flown from jewel to jewel in the hope of reviving and restoring the magnificence of their home which is none but the Aam-Khass of a hill-fort on the opulent ceiling of which they dwelt.

The pierced floriation of the choker is retained around the love-birds and the medallion almost becomes a shield, a coat of arms of the Royals of Dungarpur. Detailed differently in the flowers and vines, here you'll see the addition of single blossoms, a belpata, and no trace of the marigolds. Between the birds and just above their heads you'll note a solitary bloom that resembles Sheshnag, its five heads prominently displayed in relief. 

Is mythology then being interwoven with the storied history of Southern Rajasthan? Let the pendant answer, for the articulation of the past and present in visual terms, and drawn from a single regal residence, is best left to the residents of that place. The talking parakeets, in romance bound, will tell all from their rich perch framed within a double-beaded halo. As they must have by now to the brave lady who sought to enshrine them as a vermilion-polished guinea-gold jewel drawn from a jewel drawn from a jewel drawn from the ceiling of a jewelled palace in a distant desert town of Rajasthan. Handcrafted with skills quite beyond the superlative, and fitted with a burgundy rope-tassel, this stunning pendant — more accessible than the Juna Mahal choker — forms a perfect set with the pashas. 

All the more reason for you to possess it.

On the night of our marriage I asked of him his umlakh. It wasn’t the silver kind commonly borrowed from bankers and money lenders. This had five beautiful panels in guinea gold, each depicting the...

On the night of our marriage I asked of him his umlakh. It wasn’t the silver kind commonly borrowed from bankers and money lenders. This had five beautiful panels in guinea gold, each depicting the palace garden's magic tree which bore male and female flowers of distinct fragrance through all seasons, every one of them encrusted with a single invaluable gem. Rubies, turquoise, pearls, corals, emeralds decorated the tree perpetually but no one plucked them. Only when the flowers drooped and fell to the ground were the gems collected by the gardener and brought to him to whom I was now sworn for life. The hills of Himachal echoed his name and he was loved by all, but most of all by me whom he had chosen to be his consort.

He’d given me the umlakh without any hesitation; the kindness in his eyes made of the priceless heirloom a precious gift of unquestioning love.

"Keep it. Make of it what you will. From now, the groom's crown becomes the bride’s ornament and a symbol of their unconditional love," he'd said with a conviction borne less out of regal magnanimity than a virtuous besottedness.

The royal parrots with their ruby eyes stand guard over the panels – three for the guluband and two I’ve made earrings out of — that remain resplendent in their pierced naksha floriation. I’ve added tinkling bells as a gather at the bottom of each tablet so that the tintinnabulation as we make love he might hear in the dark and be reassured that his umlakh is my favourite guluband just as my soul is avowedly intertwined with his.

As he caresses my neck, I feel his sweet wine-tinged breath upon mine. It stills for just a moment as his fingers trace the chased magic trees and their gems ever so gently. When a regent’s wedding crown willingly becomes his Queen’s most treasured ornament, court and kingdom both recognise the power of love to be the greatest and without equal.

I hold him in my jewel as he holds me in his heart.

That the classic can’t be sultry is a sad misconception. Bengali wives in aristocratic homes, at the turn of the century, painting their buttocks with alta as enticement is a case in point. That pe...

That the classic can’t be sultry is a sad misconception. Bengali wives in aristocratic homes, at the turn of the century, painting their buttocks with alta as enticement is a case in point. That petticoats weren’t worn and the cotton of the sarees that was was fine and white helped matters along, though whether those husbands were worth such creative seduction is an altogether different debate.

There’s nothing canonical about the art of jewellery-making. The rules are made by you and us working together as a team. It’s for us to imbue the ornament with virtues you feel it must have to reflect your unique character.

Womanhood doesn’t mean drudgery. It may not also be immersed in merely the decorative. To have agency over our bodies is essential to our muliebrity and erotic expression a right that can elegantly be connoted through personal ornamentation.

The TellaJumiki is a passion-flower vine with sticky bracts that attract and capture insects drawn to its sweet blooms. Even as the flower becomes fruit the bracts remain and make certain lascivious pests are caught and digested with delightful slowness. It’s all there in this stunning pierced-naksha choker where you see the tentacular plant spread its foliage and flowers right through the ball-bordered frieze. The pockmarked split-ball ghungroo fringe makes musicality inseparable from this splendid neckpiece and recalls the mild tinkling of hand-me-down anklets.

The panel is backed by black velvet : another warning that our beauty is not ever meant to be devoured (as against appreciated) by the male eye but is in fact a stealth weapon that’s integral to our very being –– one that we can unleash whenever we like. There's more in this artistic arsenal but not all may be revealed at once.

Hand-wrought with purpose in rich guinea-gold, the TellaJumiki choker is a beautiful tocsin that sends out clear signals of how charming our femininity is, and how deadly in its confrontation with the male gaze that’s turned toxic.

This isn't a tie-up. It isn't some kind of cross promotion either. But we must, at the outset, credit the Oviya Design Studio in Fremont, California, and its founder Meenakshi Satyavolu Rangachary ...

This isn't a tie-up. It isn't some kind of cross promotion either. But we must, at the outset, credit the Oviya Design Studio in Fremont, California, and its founder Meenakshi Satyavolu Rangachary for the genesis of this design. We don't know her, and didn't know of her either till, on Pinterest, a wedding invitation in mottled crimson with nothing on it but a pair of Kalamkari parrots perched on a lotus fell upon our eyes which then remained transfixed on the card for the next minute, so intense were the colours and so mesmerising the motif.

This pendant, realised in a very light ek-pora naksha, takes its form from Ms.Satyavolu Rangachary's card design and the primary elements as well — birds and a flower. All beyond that has been interpreted to our own aesthetic.

Gone are the repetitive pen-lines of Kalamkari and the solid sections differentiated by colour, both ably replaced by intricately chased detailing on the neck, saddle, breast and feathers as well as the natural relief that naksha brings to soft gold, raising the patterns to make them more palpable and thus realistic.

Also, the birds have transformed from parrots to regal peacocks, their wings positioned high, the plumes more sweeping, and with an unmistakable crest on each head. Notice how a solitary pola, cover-set, and with a trefoil crown, fills the gap between the turned napes.

The lotus too has changed into a badge-like sun, its core a coral surrounded by strung seed pearls, and firoza, pala and mukto decorating the six crescentic ray-petals that emanate from it. A single polished globe hangs from the sun and immediately converts the badge into a victory medal.The earrings are but a smaller version of this sun-and-globe decoration. And, not to forget, the crimson of the card is clearly indicated in the rich hue of the thickly twined cotton cord to which the pendant is fastened.

From Calcutta to California is about 12000 kilometres. Will our gratitude reach that far? Social media has, seemingly, reduced physical distances so that we may, whoever and wherever we are in the world, connect to each other. That might have benefits, but metamorphosing from couch potatoes to mouse potatoes shouldn't be counted as one among them. Then, steeped in digitalia, we tend to lose ourselves to our virtual existence : the image replaces the real. Still, we hope our heartfelt 'Thank You', through this all-but-obligatory method of internet communication, will reach her whose wedding card design with the Kalamkari motif on it has so influenced this little pendant set. Thus, as a symbolic gesture of gratitude, we've decided to name it "Oviya" (after her studio) which, we understand, in most of Southern India, connotes a lady of great pulchritude and noble character whose picture every talented artist wants to draw. We've painted ours. 

Five different kinds of virtuoso workmanship. A necklace in three sections held together with hundreds of bichha chains. A form taken beyond the usual by its deconstruction and final reassemblage i...

Five different kinds of virtuoso workmanship. A necklace in three sections held together with hundreds of bichha chains. A form taken beyond the usual by its deconstruction and final reassemblage into one cogent narrative. The volume, made light, despite its staggering mass, by the judicious use of pierced naksha and filigree for infill and chain sections as structure. A finely graded vermilion polish with parts left natural. Eight months of manufacture, bringing the best of Bengal's artisans, with their varied skills, together in one endeavour. Reasonable overshooting of the budget. Five fittings, given to perfect the contours and coverage of the goyna so that it performs consummately in actual use. A very noble and patient client.

So much can be said about this ornament, and there's a lot we'd like to. Simpler jewels have commanded greater words. But this isn't a novel ; it's cinema. There's a black screen there and a story's unfolding against it. You are in your favourite place of rest and about to free your mind to be held captive by what you see. The experience, as the narrative unfolds and the minutiae of the place, the landscape, the time, the characters all coalesce and immerse you into their world, is of feelings stirred up by what you view and note and hear all together in a way that you've interpreted for yourself without knowing. It's then that your mind shall give in to your heart and your heart to your soul. That's when it'll cease to be cinema and become your story. Your own love story. And you'll live happily ever after.

Handcrafted with unerring love in pure guinea gold, and created by shameless fantasts, we present :

Subhasree. A star. A wedding necklace from Bengal. A story of love told in many languages across the country, but none as classically, as intricately, and as beautifully as ours.

Just as the Kakoli Necklace (shown here on 22nd November, 2014) is a fine and suitably complex example of reverse customization, so is this, though the resulting ornament is far, far different. Her...

Just as the Kakoli Necklace (shown here on 22nd November, 2014) is a fine and suitably complex example of reverse customization, so is this, though the resulting ornament is far, far different. Here, too, the Naksha Kanbala (posted on 9th July, 2013) becomes the basis for the flowers-and-vine pattern of the Hansuli though what in the earring was a simple panel of single phul-lata-pata, in this jewel has morphed into a lush, scrolling creeper that occasionally breaks into graduated double blossoms. Note, right at the end, towards the pair of makars, a solitary six-petalled flower proudly holds its place on each side. The mise en scene is evident: those tiny blossoms are drawn directly from the Kanbala to acknowledge the influence of that jewel on this one. Even the triangulated wire-work with a ball at each tip that goes across the lower arc of the ornament beneath the ball border is lifted in toto from the earring and is supremely effective as a counterpoint to the powerful, pierced naksha. The tiny ball-thokas, with a polished ball in the centre, go up the entire bottom edge and a row of hollow ball beads frame the top. The red of the rope tassel dazzles in contrast to the gold and is the preferred auspicious colour, signifying fertility and prosperity.

The pot marigold gets its due. Re-imagining these everyday flowers on a vine, the double blooms, in carefully sculpted bas-relief, stand out among the rich foliage. The pierced naksha is exquisite; seasoned hands have been at work here or else the shaping of the leaves, curly stems and two-tiered genda-phul, all carved out from one solid sheet of gold, would never have been achieved to such a degree of intricacy.

This is, in a way, masterpiece work, and may or may not be comparable to that of the famous carver Grinling Gibbons whose wondrous wood cascades and wreaths you'll find in St. Paul's Cathedral, Hampton Court, and Blenheim Palace, though those who haven't seen the Carved Room at Petworth House in Sussex haven't really seen him at all. We aren't nearly anywhere close to giving to gold "the loose and airy lightness of flowers" that Gibbons bestowed upon his woodwork, but can aspire to pay homage to him by chasing the yellow metal in a manner so painstaking and with such attention to detail and volume that it would take months to complete a piece such as this, worked upon with perseverance and very steady and caring hands (not to mention the magic skills they've honed from years of tough apprenticeship) that if slip at any point in the making of the ornament would cause it to be melted down and wrought right from the beginning, again. Such is a purist's commitment to excellence; a humble jeweller's quest for truth and beauty.

For you, a Hansuli not monumental in scale but by style and temperament, design and detail, in its intent and making. The motif, the form, as the craftsmanship, is essentially steeped in the vernacular of Bengal, and India, while it pays its respects to a legendary English 'Master Carver'. Handmade in bright yellow 22K gold with love, love and the kind of love that makes love immortal.

We've known Mrs.Debarati Dutta-Cherukuri for three years now. Facebook brought us together. Or rather, our ornaments on Facebook did. Since then, we've had the occasion to make bespoke jewels for h...

We've known Mrs.Debarati Dutta-Cherukuri for three years now. Facebook brought us together. Or rather, our ornaments on Facebook did. Since then, we've had the occasion to make bespoke jewels for her several times, but this recherché joroa necklace and earring set is the one that we felt deserved pride of place among those she'd ordered. But first, before we go into the details of the jewellery, here's the very accomplished, very beautiful, very humble, and very artistically inclined Debarati telling you about herself.

"An educator, a life-long learner, a traveller, and a diehard dreamer, much of my professional and personal life is built across homes, hotels, and workplaces in several cities, countries, and continents.

The consequence of my own mobility as an immigrant (who lives and works in communities distant from her "first home") and a scholar (whose education and work happens in many places) is a subtle and unexpected resistance to it. In fact, much of my present intellectual work focuses on a place-based model of teaching and learning that honors local history, community, culture and privileges indigenous and postcolonial modes of knowledge-making.

At the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, I teach courses on critical thinking and communication, academic writing and inquiry, food studies, film studies, and teacher/tutor education.

Working with students, reading, writing, cooking, walking, traveling, and gardening bring me lasting joy and peace.

A self-proclaimed hoarder, I have, managed to gain notoriety for my blind love for all things local, handmade, and slowcrafted: seasonal cuisine, embroidered linens, handloom textiles, pottery, ethnographic objects, and (drum roll!!!) jewelry. And, in my much anticipated second life, the hoarder in me dreams of curating my eclectic collections in a vintage home with limewashed walls, red oxide floors, green louvered windows, and wrought-iron balconies swathed with fuschia bougainvilleas, fragrant rangoon creepers, honeysuckle, and night jasmine.

" It's who we all want to be; a life we all want to live; a dream we all want, for Debarati, to come true. Her well-wishers are many. Her students love her and cherish the time she gives them beyond the scope of any curriculum and counts their blessings they have a teacher who imparts to them not just the education required for living a life where work leads to professional and personal fulfilment but a life in which the boundaries of their thoughts are given no horizon so that they may imagine and reflect upon the vast possibilities of their changing the world for the better. In her own way, Debarati charges the solemn air around college academics with a dash of poignant energy that comes as much from the depth of her knowledge of and love for her subject as it does because of her overarching empathy and generosity towards the world around her and the people in it.

She comes to care for her parents, resident for long in Phuleswar, Howrah, every year. And when her father'd taken ill some time ago, she was with him every moment till he regained health. From written communication and face-to-face meetings we know how concerned Debarati is about the world going rogue on arts and craft. She's the kind who'd feel it deep within when vernacular talent submits to mechanized industry and the soul is sucked out of all things beautiful that are infused with a kind of divinity which comes only from creating with your own two hands even objects as simple as a madur or an earthen pot, or, for that matter, quotidian eats like Bengali mishti.

All this we tell you about Debarati because she won't, in as many words. She's too self-effacing to ever name her virtues beyond those that are evident in her personal and professional sphere. Her accomplishments are for all to see; her true beauty we hold up for you to know. As we look for icons to inspire us in our quest to make a difference and create our own history in this world, we need to find those such as Debarati to whom we must owe the debt of humanity and knowledge and selfless guidance that makes her not just a teacher of the greatest merit but also a supremely virtuous champion and one of incomparable nobility.

The necklace set, handcrafted with multi-generational expertise and traditional tools, in 22K gold, is a pearl set joroa design where five flowers bloom on a leafy vine. The gems are pavé set and the ornament is done in the traditional tol-paarh style. The collets in the middle of the flowers and at the ends of the tendrils hold the larger pearls that are cover-set. Likewise in the earrings, though here you'll see only the leaves making up the pattern. The design was sent to us by Debarati on mail and she wanted it replicated in full detail. That's what we did, but added the triple-leaf drop in the centre, below the large flower. It wasn't a huge change but a significant one that completed the jewel and gave it the essential playfulness of movement ---- an unexpected lightness of heart in an otherwise eminent ornament, so much like Debarati's personality that harbours her achievements with grace and tempers them with a cheerfulness that is at once engaging and vibrant. In that, this suite of jewels is who she is in all her reserve and all her splendour and so must be named after her. For you then, we present Debarati, in the nitid glory of pearls and gold.

The nocturnal garden of love that comes alive with the rains, this necklace celebrates the erotic in chaste guinea gold, the ecstasy of passionate prem-bandhan immortalized in delicate delightful n...

The nocturnal garden of love that comes alive with the rains, this necklace celebrates the erotic in chaste guinea gold, the ecstasy of passionate prem-bandhan immortalized in delicate delightful naksha strung together with verses of luminous seed pearls.

A thick cluster of kurchi blossoms in the middle, a pair of peacocks make love, the makar on either side hold up the ends of the ardhachandra centrepiece like Kamadeva's own banner, and rows of gold balls recall kadamphul strewn across the earth.

We are all someone's lover. We have to be. And if there are cathering clouds, if there's a thunderstorm, if it is raining, let us be Vasantsena and venture into the night to love.

Mayurpur --- it's what our heart desires.

lariat necklaces

held together

by delicate

tulle butterflies

encrusted with

precious gems or

kaleidoscope

enameling.

All in 22k gold.

Only for t...

lariat necklaces

held together

by delicate

tulle butterflies

encrusted with

precious gems or

kaleidoscope

enameling.

All in 22k gold.

Only for those

who believe

in magic.