The form is a discal pasha: an ancient jewel type. The beading is also traditional and doubles at the bottom where the ball-clusters are attached as a fringe with a single large rudraksha-ball providing relief and a folksy touch.

The infill is a contradiction: half of it is empty. This hollow volume is defined by an upside-down naksha trefoil arch that's almost repeated in fine, chhela ekka-wire just above it. The rest is a void.

Beneath the chased arch is a pierced naksha arabesque of no clear definition though the swirls are becoming enough not to warrant any specific reason for their presence. They're there because they're there.

Now let's have a look at the tana: again a contrasting style that sees three tipki-kamal chains joined by and embellished with orbs on three clear horizontals. The vertical, on the other hand, is defined by two granulated barfis that have no synonymity at all with the pasha.

So, there! Now, we have a disjunct tana to a difficult pasha. Yet, somehow they come together in Ludic fashion to make a statement in favour of whimsy in fine guinea-gold jewellery. It is a unique, if wayward, jewel! Also, the tana being detachable, it can be worn with almost all other earrings (except kaans) of any style.

Come now, when was design always strait-laced? It could be rewarding to now and then be fanciful and let things evolve into something unreasonable as a design but terrific as an ornament.

Perhaps there's stuff weighing on the mind that results in blanks and voids which become empty spaces; maybe the arabesque results not from a study of organic forms but from plain puzzlement. Sometimes, there's no clear explanation to how a design's come about. This is one of those instances. And the jewel has been named accordingly.

A solitary but brave rose anchors itself at the bottom of an elaborate paisley that itself is surrounded by partial ball-beading and a score of lit pradips. A chased rope separates all this from the inside where the splendid rose nestles amidst its own curvy vines. Another flower can be seen at the top but that's not a golap.

As for the title - La Vie en Rose - it's purely sentimental. It means what we deem "seeing life through rose-colored glasses" and has little to do with an actual rose. Yet, you know, it's Paris and the Olympics, and the Seine, the croissants and...sigh! - why not let this eminently wearable, romantic little jewel symbolize a love song that itself more or less personifies the city of light and love.

Wait a moment! We haven't even told you what handcrafted guinea-gold goyna this is. It's a earcuff, or what one would call a half-kaan, just as exquisite as it’s meant to be, and perfect with all sorts of outfits.

Even Edith Piaf would've been proud.

Making fine jewels for celebrities (though who exactly a celebrity is defies definition but broadly includes those of a certain fame) ought to benefit the designer-manufacturer by earning them some spotlight from that which shines bright upon the luminary on any stage/screen/arena.

With us, however, there's no exclusive currency an ornament of our design and make acquires merely because there's someone famous associated with it. If anything, each fine jewel of ours is conceived and crafted with the notion that it will adorn the divine: You as Ma Lakshmi incarnate. That belief supersedes the idea of celebrity and instead celebrates each one of you equally as a supreme being in your own right. Our goyna is, as it always was, the votive we offer you.

Having said that, the young lady whose jewel this is quite contrary to the whole notion of what a celebrity might be. Not only is she humble and down-to-earth, even her comportment while dealing with the salespeople in the showroom is decidedly un-starry. Also, her aesthetic sensibilities, considering she’s a thespian of deserved repute, leans more towards a normcore-like simplicity far removed from the branded glitz-and-glamour look that small- and big-screen personalities are known to parade.

Be that as it may, she knows who she is and makes her choice, as far as fine jewellery is concerned, with great discernment. It's not just the jewels that must look good but she, wearing them, should appear, tastefully, every bit the diva she truly is. And while most of the goyna was selected (with minor modifications) from existing designs, this two-tier jhumka-pasha was expressly created to her preferences.

She wanted a discal pasha that would be mirror-polished with minimal work on it; below it would be a dome-like jhumka. The rest was left to us.

What we thought was that the earring would be best balanced if there were two, not single, jhumkas that could incorporate the primeval aesthetic of plain hand-formed hand-beaten earrings and contrast it with that of intricate, perforated naksha. Over trials, the jhumkas became reverse nesting ones, the smaller, floriated, pierced-naksha dome, with its ball-ball fringe, resting above the larger, polished, double-ball bordered parasol that's enhanced by its bunting of kadamphuls and the single ball-karai clapper. The pashas, detachable for separate wear, as specified, are mirror-polished and have a triple-wire surround, and also a rudraksha-ball beading that runs like a curved frame along the outer edge.

That's Sohini-Shovan for you. A pair of committedly simple two-tiered jhumkas with curved discal pashas that convey, in easy terms, both the passion of human endeavour and an utterly personal touch to the design.

That's not too far from a summation of an exemplary stage or screen performance. Minimal gestures, maximum expression, poise, character and stunning beauty that's at once universal and exclusive. In many ways the reflective dome of the pashas and lower jhumkas exemplify the quality of vision and self-actualisation while the small centre-jhumkis, clad in their naksha garb, talk about the nuances of character, personality and attitude.

A study in contrast, the earrings distill into their design and manufacture the essential nature of their lady owner/wearer and, in hand-wrought rich-yellow guinea gold, help bring out her inner beauty.

We do hope these truly delightful earrings will keep the newly married couple happy, wherever they are, and add to their joyous home a precious heirloom that'll remain unchanged for generations to come.

On that note, may we wish them a very peaceful, content and splendiferous life, and express to them our sincerest gratitude for choosing us to create their wedding jewels. Thank you, from the very core of our heart.

Both are body ornaments, tho...

Both are body ornaments, though, and inseparable when they are virtuous from the social, cultural and emotional aspect of each one of us.

To respect both and accord them the stature of essential symbols of our spirit, their merit - of design, form, skill of hand manufacture, quality of materials, consideration of detail - must be uncorrupted.

MITAN GHOSH AND THE ART OF THE BANARASI SAREE

One such rare exponent of the classic Banarasi saree is Mrs. Mitan Ghosh, who, despite (or because of) the fact that she's been resident in new Jersey for two decades now, has actually managed to revive, in splendidly innovative designs and colours, the pure hand-weaves of Benaras. Now, many may purport to doing the same thing. It is after all, the era of going 'LIVE' on social media to claim supremacy of something or the other, and for most parts that's an exercise in unadulterated blatherskite, a kind of direct-sales pitch that's so loud that what you hear and believe and look at subverts or even submerges what you should actually see, notice, consider and feel.

Mitan Ghosh does it differently. She lets her creations speak.

MITAN GHOSH ON MITAN GHOSH

Humble to a fault, when asked to write a few words on herself, she was characteristically reticent but did finally reveal the Tellurian behind the thaumaturge of traditional, unique, and ever-dynamic Banarasi sarees.

Here's Mitan Ghosh for you, in her own words:

"Aami Designer, aami Fashion niye porechhi from NIFT. My brand is twelve years old. My passion is to make everything beautiful and live with beautiful people around me, like Brinda herself. Aamar hobby is also related to beautify my home and garden in every possible way. Skincare is another passion that I have. I absolutely love to read about it! I have become three-fourths a skin practitioner by reading about skin.

A Sirkar elaam bolte, I came to know Brinda first and started following her work. My interest in jewellery was zero. After seeing Brinda's amazing bespoke work, I thought of creating a piece with her and am so, so happy that I did. I love the earring."

DINA PATHAK, ON THE GRACE OF THE SARI AND HOW IT CREATES MOVEMENT.

Dina Pathak, the noted actress and theatre director once commented on the sari: "Other clothing is on you, but it is not with you. But the sari is with me. I have to constantly handle it. I just can't let it lie. The whole thing creates movement and one is moving with it all the time. That is why the pallu is not stitched. And that is the grace of the sari."

A KANBALA OF UNTESTED AND UNIQUE FORM

Keeping in mind Mitan's indifference to shonar goyna, and jewellery in general, and that she was stopping into a known world, a world that complemented hers, and yet a world she had not made her own, we set about creating a hitherto untested form for her kanbala - one that would centre on 'movement' of the kind that was more free and easy and not calibrated to secure the formality that comes with the wearing of classical forms of fine jewellery.

A DRAMATIC REVERSAL ARRESTS THE EYE

A 'V' suspension system was evolved, the gote chains widening at the pasha and narrowing to a point where it attaches to the cartouche pendant, in what is the reverse of the age-old method of attaching one to the other. Immediately, there's drama. The eye is arrested by form.

A solitary hand-struck cone drop fills the void between the chains and visually bridges the two parts of the kanbala.

A STUDY IN CONTRAST AND COMPANIONSHIP

Wrought by hand in pure naksha, the pasha is solid while the cartouche is in intensely floriated pierced naksha. The former is unframed; the latter beaded with polished topas. An identical cone drop beneath the cartouche balances and completes the jewel.

It's a study in contrast, but the pasha and the pendant integrate in unequivocal companionship, just the way the butis and the border or the corner motifs and the medallions on a sublime silk Banarasi might.

DETAILING THE DETAILING OF MITAN BAGH

As for where the detailing's drawn from:

Have you been to Tipu Sultan's summer palace in Srirangapatna? It's known as Dariya Daulat Bagh. The name's self explanatory.

Walk in. Go to where the double height interior hall is gheraoed from all sides by pillared balconies. You'll find the gloriously carved floral ceiling centrepiece from which the pasha in drawn.

Eschew the brilliant narrative frescoes of the main spaces and study instead the equally stunningly painted botanicals of the andar-mahals and jharokhas and most of the spandrels of the upper storey. You'll find among them the passion-flower vine infill of the pendant. The bird's a touch of whimsy. What, after all, is a bagicha of friendship without its feathered friends?

A PALADIN FOR THE LOOM-EMBROIDERED HANDWOVEN BANARASI SAREE

By now you've gathered the pendant to be nothing but an upturned decorative arch (of which there are many in Tipu's summer palace) given cartouche form. And that this bold jewel takes history and tradition and interprets them both with care and respect to present a fresh new view of what a kanbala could construe. It epitomises its wearer, was conceived with her, and is, true to custom, named after her.

There it is. The Mitan Bagh Kanbala, where the garden of friendship, true and beauteous, comes alive in pure guinea-gold. It also immortalizes one among us, a true paladin, who seeks to safeguard an important heritage of our country - the handwoven loom-embroidered Benarasi saree - and ensure the everlasting popularity of its purest form. And this she does (imagine!) - and this she feels she must do - while being resident for the last twenty years in America. Hats off to Mitan Ghosh!

Here s...

Here she is, in her own words:

"I am Subhashree Bera, born and brought up in West Bengal. A few years back I completed my Masters in Ireland and am working as a Software Engineer in Dublin currently. In my leisure time, I like to indulge myself in art and craft, reading novels, and cooking. What I like most, though, is to connect with friends and family, and this uplifts my soul hugely! As I am quite particular about designs and interested in antique pieces, I felt I couldn't get anything better than "A Sirkar" for my bridal collection. Luckily I found this incredible page on Instagram which never failed to amaze me. I placed my orders asap and received my jewellery on time!

"Have to say, I can't wait to own more timeless crafts from A Sirkar!"

There you go! - that's the Dublin connection.

What Subhasree didn't tell you was that her sobriquet has always been 'Ree' amongst her family and close friends. And since we were creating something for her that addressed her twin status of being a Calcuttan and a Dubliner, 'Ree' proved to be a merry coincidence.

The Jhumka is of the jhumar kind, a polished parasol decorated with double-ball borders between braided wires. Above them a line of standing sasa-danas, faceted, adds shine. So much so for Bengal, in the jhumka.

The cascades of polished discs that complete it and give it its jhumar form are drawn from the ree, or little stream, that once blithely ran through Dublin, when in the morning the first sun would make its waters sparkle in joyous abandon. The pearls are fanciful but a sweet way to fringe the jhumar.

The pasha romanticizes the sparkle as well by now turning the polished discs (each with a reji dot on it) into a halo that surrounds a splendiferous climbing golap - the Dublin Bay Rose - in a ball-edged plaque, the characteristic red blossoms hinted at by the vermilion finish given the earring.

Ultimately, though, the Dublin Ree Jhumka-Pasha is all of what Subhasree is in spirit: a beautiful rose and the bright sparkle of a carefree stream, combined.

We are grateful to her for choosing us to make her wedding jewels, but more so for creating with us this marvelous jhumka-pasha that now holds eternally her magnificent spirit. May she, in all her brilliance and beauty bright, illuminate this world forever.

Hand wrought in bright yellow 18K gold, the setting areas are rhodium-plated to give them a contrasting whitish hue in the fashion of Edwardian jewellery that used rose gold as the base and silver for the stone-set portions.

A solitary diamond carnation occupies centre-stage, with diamond leaves and buds too. Framing the plant is a curvy heart the curls of which are tipped by single diamonds. A diamond bhui-chakra assumes the role of the tops, while the cap of the drop-pearl is set with diamonds as well to ensure a perfect balance of gems to metal. Biccha chains engage the cordate part as swinging sections, and this imparts the jewel a marvellous ludic quality. Freshwater seed pearls line the edge of the heart and this splendid arrangement of gold, diamonds and mukto is also so Edwardian Belle-Epoque as to make the ornament seem to belong to that era. It does, in spirit. And it belongs in eternity as well, for such jewels never age, never dim, and never not be in style.

That said, there's a clear Indianness to the earrings also, and that perhaps comes from the articulation of shape and form. This is important, for it should be European-style- influenced Indian jewellery rather than just a copy of some Edwardian-period bauble.

This sweet and elegant girandole succeeds in that quite splendidly.

Finally, this is a matching earring. The festoon necklace it pairs with shall follow over the weekend.

Luck, undiluted affection, and all things pure - as signified by the white, diamond-encrusted carnation - be yours, now and forever.

"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..."

"...he awoke from the spell of endless slumber that a witch had cast upon him. On seeing Briar Rose's flushed cheeks and her lovely moon-like countenance, he smiled, "Am I dreaming? Or is it really you, the damsel of my dreams, come to life? Here, hold my hands and lift me up, for I fear I've slept too long and my poor feet won’t hold with strength enough my body."

"I'm not the one come to life. That's you! Have you any idea how long you've been in the deepest of deep slumbers, and how many have risked, and lost, their lives in search of you?" stated Briar Rose forcefully.

"Look, Prince — can I call you that? 'Your Highness' sounds so fairy-tale-ish! — the point is, I'm here, whether or not I'm the girl of your dreams, and I figured I just might marry you."

"My name's Philip. Please call me that, will you? And I say 'Yes!' to your proposal."

"Proposal?! Now, let's not get ahead of ourselves. It was just a thought. And besides, if you're saying 'Yes' to marrying me, you'd better not do it empty handed. You know magic. Just conjure up a jewel for me."

To this Prince Philip replied with sadness, "I can't, there's a three-day period that I have to patiently go through in prayer and meditation before my magic is restored." And with that he looked down to the Earth with morosity such that it seemed he might, any moment, burst into tears.

"Well, you know", said Briar Rose, smiling within at the tenderness she saw in the Prince, something wholly absent among males of nobility who engaged in only those activities that seemed to bolster their egos, "I do have this collar I've shaped from wildflowers I found around your palace. And I do have a bit of velvet still left from the piece that tore off when my dress got caught on the thorns. Perhaps I could pick some more flowers and you could fix them on the velvet and make me two plaques for my ears matched to the necklace. But you'll have to make them yourself and then gift them to me as a sign of our betrothal."

And that's exactly how it happened. Briar Rose went flower-picking and gathered some lilies of the valley, a couple of climbing roses, two daisies, and a bunch of wood anemones. These she gave to Philip, together with the strip of black velvet still left untouched.

Philip took great delight in crafting the pashas. And when they were done, he showed them to Briar Rose who with her mere touch turned the botanical to pure guinea-gold. Of course, the patwa was called in to reinforce the gold parts with black thread, and, after being encrusted with rubies, emeralds, pearls, coral and turquoise, they perfectly matched the collar.

Philip formally handed them over to Briar Rose, and that, right there, right then, became the perfect symbol of their love.

And so it came to pass that Philip returned to his mother and father and there was great rejoicement across the land which they ruled. Briar Rose married him and, since she was the only daughter, eventually became queen of both the regions.

Till date, Briar Rose's Pashas have remained the most enduring symbol of love in their country and, gradually, also in the world.

Here they are, for your pleasure!

"In the centre is the magic grove of these bi...

"In the centre is the magic grove of these birds 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."

There are changes, you'll notice:

Gone is the crescentic swing; the lovebirds are now decorated with red and green enamel and are poised for passion amidst curvy foliage that becomes a de facto nest; the mina touches serve to better define the jewel and its intricacies; and the ball-jhur comprises serrated pairs of orbs placed symmetrically along the edge of the foliate nest. Also, the earring holds this scene of bliss among two birds in balance by using seven chela-bichha chains which lead up to a half-chand pasha that's plain-polished, has a cabochon ruby in it, and a pearl, and is bordered by little katai-mangoes.

A large pearl drop at the bottom, beneath the enamelled flower, reflects the pearl in the crescent moon pasha, and there’s coherence here in the narrative, tied as it is to the amative kokil-couple.

The contrast of the pierced-naksha centerpiece to the polished Manipuri crescent pasha provokes thought, and if you notice carefully you'll find beneath the falcate moon another curved outline. It's the actual hanger to which the chains are attached, and is detachable from the pashas which you can then wear separately. Likewise, the jhapta-dul becomes independent and may now be worn as a regular jhoomar on the side of the head. Also, the jhapta is reversible, the other side of chhela gold.

All in all, a splendid spectacle of avian love that has two faces: chhela gold on one side (unseen) and minakari on the other. We've displayed the latter, but the gold side can be worn as and when you like it. Spectacular of form, spectacular when worn, and spectacular in its use of contrasting jewel-craft, this is a brave pair of earrings and one that's a fitting accompaniment to the Kokilkunja Sita-har, though it does superbly by itself as well.

And why shouldn't it? After all, two koels that have at last found in each other the virtues of a life-partner get together for a late night rendezvous, romance by the gentle light of the falcate moon, and are revealed by it. Honestly, the stuff of dreams! -handcrafted with as much ingenuity and expertise as love, in rich yellow guinea gold.

There's also the quality of being versal that this pair of vermilion tinged guinea-gold earrings is blessed with. It can be worn with all kinds of solid gold neckpieces, whether any part of its design matches them or not. And since the kajollata is held by the bride through the day at a Bengali wedding and kohl is said to ward off evil of any kind, this light and lovely jewel is also, in a strong enough sense, apotropaic.

That's fair. For all its understated glory, the Hillol-Kajjol Half-Kaan is a lovingly handcrafted, magical little ornament.

As for the the chased and perforated plaques "where a top-down view of the Ashoka tree results in scrolled leaves and dainty blossoms occupying every part of the curved dome", they follow with slight changes the aesthetic of Anganpriya which in turn draws from the Ashoka (December, 2020) pendant-pasha set which also led to the Vishoka neckband (September 2022).

There's no great crime in combining designs that you love to create a new jewel that also you feel will find a place in your heart. To do that, however, you will have to possess the skills of imagination sharp enough to visualise the finished jewel after the varied elements have been brought together. Or, we could simple draw them out for you, the options, and you could, after you see them, approve the one you like most.

Though borrowing from past ornaments the basic elements that form the jewel and allowing their detailing to be left by and large unchanged, the jewel thus birthed still has the aura of an altogether new goyna. And since it's, in a manner, bespoke, there's a strong case for its christening afresh, with a nod towards its previous avatars. As such, this jhumka-pasha has also been named after the Ashoka tree, as it's known in the Odiya language.

Handcrafted with supreme skills, the earrings are chased above and hand-shaped and planed and polished below. Two very different types of workmanship (Naksha and Polish-Pat) come together to form the jewel, the jhumka of which is detachable so that the pashas can be worn independently. Even though we don’t have to read any great symbolism into the jewel, the Ashoka tree (of much significance in the epics) and Zakhm-i-Gul commingling to form this ethereally beautiful guinea-gold earring tells us something about unflinching syncretism and the dazzling confluence of cultures.

This is India. It's meant to be like that. And the Dohali jhumka-pasha asserts this unafraid syncretism like no other jewel.

As such, you'll see "the rare Latifa buti (named after the master weaver who designed it, Latif Mian) of the traditional Benarasi weave" take shape in the sphere, all its little flowers and leaves on curvy stems forming the greater part of the infill of the pasha. The vines, organic as they are, arrange themselves into a distinct 'Lakhmi's Pa', and here the pashas depart from the spade form of the Latifa buti. A solitary hydrangea nestles within the 'Lakshmi'r Pa' and the connection with the hansuli is secured. The chased rope outline and the ball border follow the necklace, as does "the triangulated wire-work with a ball at each tip that goes across the lower arc of the ornament, beneath the ball border." The tiny ball-thokas (with a large polished ball in the centre) are attached to every other wire triangle and this too subscribes to the aesthetic of the hansuli.

All in all, a pair of matched pashas to the Latifa-Hydrangea Hansuli with their own artistic heart that allows them, despite their being purpose-made to be worn with the necklace, to express the constituent motifs of the mother jewel in a way that's relatable but very different. This gives the earrings a distinct character, ensuring they can be worn independent of the hansuli, and makes them iconic jewels in their own right.

Now, if you want, only the pashas can be made and worn with a plethora of other gold necklaces (and not necessarily naksha ones) and they would stand their ground as independent jewels.

Adaptations must never be considered to be of lowly stature. There's ingenuity required to make things work so that the 'matching' is authentic, and skilled workmanship to translate the idea to proper execution. The Latifa-Hydrangea Pasha, exquisitely handwrought in light vermilion-polished pierced-naksha, is a case in point.

So, what's new? We Indian women have loved our gold jewellery undiminishingly since ancient times because of their intrinsic ability to reveal our inner beauty and because over time they've become favoured repositories of our thoughts, feelings and sentiments, and all this without even considering their auspiciousness, that they are an inseparable part of our shringar, and at a baser level, how, as assets, they never depreciate and are easily exchanged or redeemed. The more prosaic concerns aside, we've made certain most of what we've owned and worn remains as heirlooms to be passed on to the deserving. And that's vital too : this preservation of fine gold jewellery that inevitably turns into a timeless heritage of family treasures and, equally, glorious jewel-craft.

The Lace Necklace is one such classic goyna. "The century-old ekka-tar technique is employed in creating the 'Lakshmi'r Pa' pattern that forms the bar-pieces between which eight rows of chains and two lines of rings are strung to bring about the intricate webbing of Cluny-like lace." - we wrote in June, 2016 while posting the necklace on this page. Four years later, we created a matched earring to the Lace Har for hotelier and entrepreneur Mrs. Sristi Dey and named it Sristi Kanbala. Now, after another four years, on being commissioned by a South-East Asia-based aesthete (who prefers to remain nameless) to make long earrings for the Lace necklace, we designed these shoulder-brushing delicate-but-deluxe danglers of the same workmanship for the lady who, keeping in mind the glamazon she is, should carry them off with aplomb.

Derived from the side-bars of the necklace that have been elongated to add length, the earrings are composed of a vertically stacked series of identically proportioned Lakshmi'r Pa' in the airy 'ekka tar' technique of open-work filigree that's so characteristic of fine Bengal 'tarer-kaaj'. The chhela 'sasa-dana' finds a place within, and the trio of kajal-lata drops, each with their tin-karai finials, extends and makes dynamic the earrings. The bichha chain is conspicuously absent though, and it's all very well that it doesn't make an appearance for then the earrings, dramatic as they are, can be worn independently with greater confidence as the chains form a rather obvious visual link to the necklace.

All said and done, a gorgeous guinea-gold jewel - and light for its volume too - to indicate how irreplaceable bespoke is to the truly discerning, and one that justifies the intense desire we women have for the yellow metal to be shaped into jewellery of the kind that’s beautiful, yes, but more importantly that complements our inner and outer beauty. After all, what other 'investment' that's worn on person, which is of unending durability and enduring value, that answers to us and enshrines our very spirit, reveals our true beauty without and within, and makes us immortal, can there be beyond handcrafted fine gold jewellery.

After thanking our invisible patron for her generous custom, and taking note of the fact that it is the end of the financial year, we can't help but proclaim in clear terms : the delicate, deluxe Lace earring 'seals the deal' for gold.

Still, the naksha-wallah does have a role to play in the finish of the jewel because he's the one who does the piercing of the pattern, a skill not acquired by any thokai-mistri. As such, after the stamping of the motifs is done on the basic tapered-circular shape, it goes to the naksha karigar for the perforations who, using a micro chisel, cuts out the solid portions between the leaves, stems and flowers. It's the reason why this sort of workmanship is known as Thokai-Naksha and not just 'thokai' and never 'naksha'.

The pasha comprises a simple flower that's repeated twice on the suspended part — as a drop in the central void and in the middle of the scroll-work. Embedded in the flower is red paste which could be substituted with a genuine Thai ruby if you want more depth to the tone of the gem without compromising its brilliant claret colour. For the more fastidious amongst you who might care to have a rare stone to decorate your guinea-gold earrings with, Burmese old-mine rubies would succeed spectacularly in setting apart the kanbala, not least due to its easily identifiable light pink hue.

Fringing the lower edge of the earring is a festoon of trefoil drops, with wishbone wires attached to a ring as effective hangers, and these are a departure from the ball-clusters you usually see on our jewellery but suit the design well, lending it a mildly outmoded character that at once bestows upon it the noble hoariness of handed-down family goyna.

All in all, these thokai-naksha kanbalas are somewhat of a standout even if they aren't as accomplished as their chased counterparts. Plus – and this should appeal greatly – they're a whole lot lighter, if smaller, and not as delicate, making their wearing a more casual exercise. Named using the initials of the thokai karkhana where its hammered into existence and hinting at the unchanged nature of its origins, the Je-Ke-Sei Kanbala remains distinguished, if not in its initial manufacture but certainly in its detailing and finish. If you've loved our naksha designs, this sort of thokai-naksha guinea-gold kanbala, on the side, for appropriate occasions and elongated use on the ear, is no less virtuous. Wear one to know one.

All of it's hand-wrought in pure guinea gold, and the naksha-work on the disc is finely perforated, as in the necklace. There's nothing further to be said about the earrings ; that's all there is.

You pick two lotuses and a pair of Mexican poppies, gather some sabu-dana, collect...

You pick two lotuses and a pair of Mexican poppies, gather some sabu-dana, collect four shapely kadmas, braid some thread, add a spattering of ring-rejis and a whole lot of split-kadamphul.

Then you go about ringing the flowers with braided thread, and with the addition of a band of ring-rejis for each Mexican poppy, complete three roundels stuck to each other with the lotus in the centre. Bordered with sabudana, these discs form a nice enough group that becomes even more attractive with the inclusion of a bevy of ball-kadam jhoor.

Now, putting the kadmas to good use, two plain-polished wire hangers are positioned as parentheses, each with a kadma at both ends, to the generous void in the middle of the earring. It's as if space were being enclosed with nothing but a polished orb of time suspended from the lotus disc that functions also as the pasha.

It's unconventional for sure, but more than that it's enthralling in its simplicity and its ability to frame space and time in a manner where we're able to include our womanhood in the grand order of things without having to ever explain ourselves. Also, the arrangement of the floriated discs is simply too darn clever not to mention, their positioning perfect, holding in dynamic balance this inventive, delicate, dashingly beautiful earring that has, in its form and design, all the virtues of a naksha kanbala without quite conforming to the typical form and detailing of one.

The ball-kadam jhoor plays an essential part here : what it does is add a good dose of high-spiritedness to the jewel and in the process also grants it an aural gift ; the tintinnabulation is fairly audible and imparts to the earring a hint of happy mystique.

The Padma-Parentheses Kanbala was a commission from a newly- wed young lady who's very interested in guinea-gold goyna made bespoke for her. Her involving life story is partly responsible for this special design being evolved, but mostly its from the heart.

A lithe, apotropaic goyna that's also stylish and suave, this one's all set to become an iconic jewel of its genre.

As far as bespoke fine gold jewellery goes towards emphasising individual identity, this one goes a step further and asserts it. How? Simply note the shapes at play in the design of the earring : the top — made of reverse-but-concentric rings of tiny mangoes converging upon a ball-phul core, and with a staccato ball surround that adds aura to the discal pashas — is a decorative interpretation of the much favoured cinnamon bun, while the lower crescentic section — with its ball and ball-karai border, scrolling foliate infill in pierced naksha, an even dozen ball-clusters (they’re a mix of split-ball and polished orbs, actually), and a central pradip drop — is nothing but a magnificent croissant, its ends curling towards the chased aam-kalka coupling between which is another ball-kalka drop that directly connects to the one at the bottom.

There’s another thing about the kanbala : the void at its centre is huge, unlike most earrings of this kind. But even the reason for that is obvious : its only the worst of croissants that aren’t airy within and delicate and buttery to the mouthfeel.

The volume of the Sangeeta Kanbala is supremely enhanced by what’s not there and its aesthetic balance struck with determination by what there is.

The best of formwork artisans and, equally, the very fussiest of naksha artists came together for this esoteric jewel, and the result is what it is : a truly rare kanbala that relates to its student/baker owner/custodian in an innovative way but is still steeped in good tradition such that it resolves the physical (baked delicacies) with the philosophical (Sangeeta’s reflections) in one fell swoop.

Here’s what Sangeeta had to say about her jewel of original design :

“This pair of earrings was a surprise gift from my mother, as she knows the love and appreciation that I hold for traditional Bengali jewelry and craftsmanship that is present in A. Sirkar's work. This has truly been a special gift for me.”

Designed and handcrafted with pleasure for Sangeeta’s pleasure, the eponymous kanbala, in vermilion-tinted 22K gold, holds its own against any that have preceded it and emerges quite the victor in the precious earrings scenario of today — just like Sangeeta does among her peers in the human world.

There's nothing to be stated here that hasn't already been said in the HilaalKamal Choker post of 12th June last year. And what you'll read is the same description altered in places to include the changes effected in order to adapt the design to this new form. When the neckpiece was made, it didn't have earrings to go with it. A year later, we were commissioned to create a demi-parure of the HilaalKamal — therefore these eye-catching danglers that are near-replicas of the choker's central pendant.

"The workmanship is cutwork and flattened wire, polished and chhela, and the border of the crescents is of mihi-ball with an additional framing of strung seed pearls — contrasts and contradictions everywhere, but all cohering with ease to form a monumental earring that's beauteous and beamish both.

"The solitary pradip glowing among the green and white gems becomes monumental in its anonymity — it could be Alladin’s magic lamp or perhaps one that’s burning bright in a niche carved into a Tulsitala in some remote village of Bengal. Its provenance is of no importance ; what is, is the fact that it’s a divine light, and one that reflects the ever-luminous sacredness of the falcate moon and the infinite wisdom of the lotus.

"There’s an exigency in this country, you see. Syncretism and secularity, both ingrained in the character of our land, seem to be at stake. But we’re jewellers in the truest sense and can hardly look beyond beauty and history and heritage — all of which we breathe into our jewels while birthing them. There is no scope for protest here, besides that which the agency of our art might allow. But can we be imagineers of such calibre that a jewel, petite and pulchritudinous, might also be a hortatory voice silently conveying through its enduring loveliness the miracle of a unified society where diverse communities commingle in peace and with certitude in a culture that transcends religion? Let the world see.

"This strong but graceful, dainty but daring, simple but monumental pair of earrings crafted by concerned hands in pure guinea gold has been imparted an earthy polish in keeping with the aesthetic of the original. It’s deliberate. In our stillness we are returned to earth — all of us. All of Us. It’s only fair then that while we live upon it we should do so in perfect harmony and with peace in the presence of each other."

A year went by. Nothing changed. Hopefully, not far into the future, this attractive pair of earrings — HilaalKamal — worn independently, shall become as much "a bellwether as the choker for the revival of our collective humanism in what is rapidly becoming a rather sadly Cimmerian age, and also a precious remembrancer of the golden era of our unbreakable communal togetherness."

Of course, the occasional whiff of Dipty...

Of course, the occasional whiff of Diptyique’s Philosykos or Maison Crivelli’s Papyrus Moleculaire can only be life affirming even though perfume by nature is ephemeral, and the classic greats like Guerlain and Galimard can even scent your dreams. That’s if you're not too busy idling around city streets in the fashion of Flaubert, and making quick work of Balzac or Maupassant after supper, tucked up in bed. Or if the aroma of freshly baked croissants, eclairs, macarons and millefeuilles mixed with that of gooey chocolate chaud sends you into a greater thrill of olfaction than any bottled fragrance, however heady, ever can.

And then, of course, there’s Alain Delon, Jean Dujardin, or Omar Sigh . . . sorry (was that a Freudian slip, you think?). . . Sy to cuddle up to in the living room as the most handsome icons of French cinema.

Yet, all that does not a Francophile make. But, perhaps, just perhaps, in argument, these recherché earrings might :
Thoroughly Belle Epoque in their delicate refinement, studded with Burmese rubies and seed pearls, they quite belong to that era of guided beauty in the arts, and speak of a sophistication sadly given to make distinct a fast declining aristocracy from the rising classes and masses riding the wave of industrial and political progress.

Not any more. Today, they’re simply timeless jewellery, the beauty of which captures the andante nature of life in those times and brings it, as relevant applied art, into the 21st century. The supreme skill of hand-making such ornaments probably now rests upon a handful of Bengali artisans still using tools from, or similar to those from, a century ago. Training imparted as family lineage has secured us such workmanship. But for how long? — remains the crucial question.

The earrings, with their sinuous swirls, gem-encrusted flowers, and spare leaves, are a companion piece to the necklace that we shall fittingly end September with.

We’ll tell you more about how the design came about when we discuss that ornament. Still, the blooms —— marguerites in pale pink and white —— are a sweet giveaway, and, here, are reimagined on a graceful vine that shapes itself into a very French loveseat.
But we’ll get to the romance later. For now, enjoy the earrings : your first glimpse of marguerites in guinea-gold and gems, on the advent of autumn.

Regarding the comparison to Grinling Gibbons’s masterful wood carvings, we may well fall short, but still this hand-chased spray of leaves and flower achieves such exquisite palpability that you’re forced to wonder at the effort that might be needed to make nature come alive in gold with such remarkable verisimilitude. If the hansuli could be termed masterpiece work, this is too, for it’s no small task to transpose the idiom of an entire necklace to a single pair of pashas. With lucid artistry, its veracity speaks.

PRESENT STORY
The real story of the pasha is, of course, the present one where it’s been made to the special order of Mrs. Sanhita Majumder, who, with her degree in computer science, is now a senior IT consultant in a multi-national company in Kolkata.
Having come across our jewellery on our website, she, for the first time, came to our showroom to order the Grinling Gendaphul Hansuli with matched earrings. Now, these earrings took the form of pashas and several designs were developed for Mrs.Majumder from which she chose this that you see.

Here’s what she had to say about herself : "I love binge watching movies / OTT series with good content . (I) Love to spend time with my family, also love deep conversation in general, especially with friends (my friends are mostly from my school/college, and a majority of them live outside West Bengal, so we can only meet once in a couple of years, but are in regular communication over phone/WhatsApp). I have two kids : One boy, nine years old, and a one-year-old girl. I came to you to make a statement piece for the occasion of my daughter's rice ceremony, a jewel that I eventually want to pass on to her (maybe for her wedding . . . at least that is what I hope for).

OBSERVATIONS
The Dhimohi Pasha takes its name from the now one-year-old daughter born to Mrs.Sanhita Majumder. As you must have read earlier, it is Mrs. Majumder's express wish that the set she's made for herself on the occasion of her daughter's annaprasan be gifted to the latter when she gets married. That event is a long way away but the thought in our mind and feeling within our heart regarding why we make fine gold jewellery when we do is ancient. Those familiar with the term : "We grow trees so that our children may enjoy the shade.", will recognise this thought and feeling forthwith and, without equivocation, act upon them. As Mrs. Majumder did. As we all do when, intuitively, we know the extraordinariness of our individual lives may be immortalized in pure guinea gold. The Dhimohi Pasha is already a generational jewel. Its destiny, bright and happy, has been wrought and its beauty made everlasting by none other than Mrs. Majumder herself. May it be witness to the joyous times and good fortune of limitless generations of her family.

The sinewy sprigs of the magical vine are foliate rather than floriated — a departure from the collar’s wild mix. The leaves are all pearl encrusted, except the one at the bottom which is more turquoise than pearl. Above, the vine curls around the solitary flower (which is the top) the petals of which are pearls but which has a turquoise at its heart. The buds remain firoza, and from the bottom leaf hangs a large pearl drop that does a lot to extend the jewel without any change in its volume and is also a visual separator which keeps distinct the earrings from the collar.

Those with a bohemian soul would think nothing of wearing these danglers independently or paired with just a string of pearls, or even several strands of them, actually. Still, being expertly shaped by hand in natural yellow guinea-gold, this svelte-but-simple organic jewel that’s elegant but undramatic (fittingly so; the necklace is opera enough) must also find itself a splendid accompaniment to fine gold jewellery – such as it is with the Labanya-Latika.

The precept of spontaneity as essential to the rightful living of our lives is upheld with quiet beauty in this pavé-set joroa airling of a jewel. It’s a darling, though, and succeeds well in its primary role of a matched earring with unerring gracefulness. You can, of course, order its complexion to your preference. Just change the combination of gemstones.

This pair of pashas conforms to all the above virtues and draws directly from our Golnar pendant/choker (featured on this page, 31st January, 2021) that was asked to be adapted to discal jewels for the ears by a lady in Bombay who selected and ordered them online. They were sent her recently and she felt they did justice to the photograph of Golnar she’d seen on the internet, and she loved them.

The central “minutely engraved double rose” is surrounded by varied plants. Wire-tied pearls form the core of the golap and single-collet muktos flanking it indicate other budding roses. The pomegranate flowers are there too, intertwined with the rose-bush, and the Burmese rubies help discern them from the tangled foliage. The rope border is ever present and around it goes a polished sabu-dana beading to further accentuate the framing of the medallion.

The naksha is of the perforated kind and the floral-and-foliate pasha is sculpted in vermilion tinted guinea-gold with care and carefree precision so that it can never be exact — which two plants in nature ever are? — to sample, a measure directed towards ensuring each ornament is exclusive to its owner/wearer. Needless to say, the form, design and detailing leave nothing to chance but the art of making does. It must. That's the essence of handmade. How else would each jewel be unique?

Suffice it to say the Golnar Pasha has everything going for it to become an enduring classic, with or without the pendant to match.

The scrolling perfo-naksha, more foliate here, is familiar, and there's a round cluster of hydrangea at the centre of each piece, the boat's enshrined in a chiselled arch. All this follows from the hansuli of which this was commissioned as a suitably dramatic matched earring. It is matched — the detailing says that — and it isn't entirely, because of the addition of the paisleys and the pradip, so that the jewel performs equally well as an independent goyna. With its ample volume and traditional naksha, this 'kirandole' (we've substituted the 'g' with 'k' in deference to its kanbala antecedents) makes that a relatively smooth task, easily stealing the show as a solo jewel.

Still, that necklace's detailing does find its way into this design. Note how a line of hollow beads (albeit in varying sizes) borders the ornament completely with only the kalka pair of the hanger left naked and how the triangulated wire-work with a ball at each tip goes across the lower arc of the crescent, beneath the ball border. Also, the tiny ball-thokas (with a large polished ball in the centre which is repeated as a drop that hangs from the kalka-pradip top) travel the entire bottom edge. These are all features intrinsic to the Latifa-Hydrangea hansuli and ensure when this earring is worn with that that they form a competent demi-parure.

Gone are Latif Mian's buti-designs; gone are the frosted makars; and gone as well are the hydrangea blooms, save two. This balanced exclusion gives it its independence while the border details, the naksha (to a certain extent) and the shape all hark back to the hansuli. At best, it's a gorgeously ambivalent jewel and striking in its form and contrasting workmanship where ball-work, pierced naksha, taarer-kaaj and polish-pat commingle gloriously to create a show-stopping kirandole of great character : a marvellous confluence of style and glamour handcrafted with skill and care in vermilion-tinted guinea-gold.

It's just the ornament for the scintillatingly successful businesswoman who ordered it. A fashion design post-graduate, not only does she run one of the most famous and popular textile firms in this part of India but takes great interest in the historical motifs of heritage sarees and jewellery of our country which, of course, contributes no end to her distinct taste for all things that reference history and tradition. Besides her entrepreneurship engagements, she counts travel and cinema among her passions, and a special place is reserved during her spare time (of which she naturally has very little) to listen to classical music.

Now, Mrs.Manjima Saha, by any other name, would be just as beautiful, but it so happens that beauty is intrinsic to her name. This jewel has been christened after her, as we've traditionally done for all ornaments that we create exclusively for and with you. We're honoured indeed and deeply grateful to her for allowing her heart to lead her to us. May Manjima the jewel embody Manjima, the lady of immeasureable style and substance, for ever and ever.

The arabesque you see — from which two sikal chains connect to a pair of quarrelling commas attached to the bottom of a collet that holds a baroque turquoise of intense colour — is wrought in cut-work, and has another matched natural firoza at its heart. Three pearl drops (two pears and a roundish one) calibrate the voids well and the last extends the jewel, giving it just the right length in relation to its airy volume.

It's Christmas, and we've eschewed our regular uploads in favour of those that are more in the spirit of the season. Today's jewellery post is of a long and luxe earring that's shaped and detailed in the manner of a swirl tree viewed upside down, where each 'swirl' is drawn on sheet gold and cut out by hand using a jeweller's saw. They are then shaped, smoothed, and arranged together for soldering.Finally, the finishes are imparted upon them which, in this case, are of two kinds: serrated and matt polished. They combine to pleasing and reasonably dramatic effect. Left natural, the deep yellow of the guinea gold complements brilliantly the rich turquoise and the silky white nacre of the pearls. Also the rusticity of the settings (and note how the pearl drops are left naked, except for those at the bottom that have caps) and the finesse of the arabesque set up a remarkable contrast that allows a commingling of the tribal with what can be seen as simplified Rocaille ornamentation. Primal and patrician become miscible here.

Wrought by hand and created through many working drawings —from which one finally emerged as suitable for wear by a young partner of a prestigious law firm stellar in its practice of Intellectual Property regulations — the Swirl Tree Earring, as we mentioned at first, is utterly sui generis in its genre, much like its owner-wearer.

In the jewel, svelte and simple, a single Yuletide Camellia bloom (in warmer climes they flower in the winter-spring period) forms the pasha and from it rises the sinuous plant with its many rose-like buds and lush glossy foliage. Born of a fertile imagination, the vine appears baccate, the 'berries' of pearls substituting for its unshapely fruit. It's a fine ornament after all ; magic has to be written into it, and fecundity play its symbolic part.

Wrought entirely by hand using a combination of double chasing with cut-work, the kaan has been imparted a vinaceous tinge to make venerable the bright yellow of our guinea gold. As such, it has acquired the patina of Bangla polish, making it more matte, even though the sharp glint of chhela is clearly evident through the tinge. That's necessary. You certainly don't want the goyna to seem dull and lifeless overdoing the antique finish, especially when everything about it is so palpable.

Made as a versatile ear-ornament to be worn with all kinds of outfits, the timely Yuletide Camellia Kaan will be travelling to America with the bride who's jewel it is and who's returned to the country and her homeplace specifically for the social event which was postponed two years back because of the pestilence. You'll get to know her better when we feature, here, the goyna that's named after her. For now, let the Yuletide Camellia Kaan tell the joy of the season, of a new beginning, of a new couple, and as well speak the beauty of love everlasting.

The pancharatna, or five gemstones, we’ve included are, however, not of random setting. That’s fair. You always get to pick the flowers you want in your celebratory wreath. We’ve chosen :

Pearls - to ensure wise and faithful friends.

Corals - for a quick and thorough recovery from any ailment, and to keep you well.

Turquoise - simply for prosperity

Rubies - to bring you unexpected but delightful guests, always.

Emeralds - for a future to look forward to.

With a wish on our lips for your well-being, we give you the everlasting Pushpa Piyali Pancharatna Kanbala. It’s on its way to Dubai as we speak. Mrs.Piyali Roy Singh’s been privy to its making right from the time when the blooms were being gathered. The finished wreath, gem-encrusted, was photographed and the picture sent to her. She booked it there and then. Her entrepreneur husband, in Hyderabad now on work, has been couriered the jewel and it’s he who, this weekend, will fly to Dubai with it.

Piyali’s acquiring this for her daughter, Oona. It’s already generational, even before reaching its owner/custodian after whom it’s named.

Handcrafted using traditional joroa techniques and realised as a timeless five-gem ornamental wreath for the ears, the Pushpa Piyali Pancharatna Kanbala is a joyful jewel that makes the ephemeral everlasting, whether it be native flora, happy times, or you. In all its intricate varicoloured beauty, it’s your eudemonia made eternal in precious gems and natural guinea gold.

Quite literally replicating the bird from the endearing Pratima Banerjee song 'O Tiya Toré', the Kanbala recreates Bibi’s pet parrot’s perch as an exaggerated but utterly simple hoop within which the bird sits smugly, shackled in gold. A finely graduated beading inside the circle and above the bird is the only decoration we see on the Kanbala and even the jhumkas are smaller and flatter because the ‘khancha’ of the Sita-har has been done away with as the parrot now lives on its own terms. Understated and unique, just as the Sita-har is, this pair of earrings is also reversible —— enamelled on one side and chhela on the other —— and you’ll see how that’s done on the short video we’ve enclosed.

The tops follow the side pieces of the Sita-har, and the bird, realised in chaste naksha, is identical to the one in that jewel.

The vital detail from the song's narrative in the necklace was the khancha-jhumka ; here, it’s the shikal-chain leading to the leg-ring which ties the bird to the perch. It seems the parrot willingly allows itself to be fettered and when it’s ready to fly simply asks you to remove the chain. And you’ll do that easily by unhooking the shikal and allowing the bird free because you know you love it and that when it has had its fill of the open skies, will return home to you and to the fetters of love because, in the whole wide world and in the heavens above, it’s only here that it resides in anyone’s heart : yours.

We all love, at some time or the other, someone, in the romantic sense. When such love remains unfulfilled, or when we find it and it doesn’t last, or when it succeeds but loses its way, we need a friend to talk to. And when it carries us through life without fading, we also need a valuable someone to lend a ear because it seems all too good to be true. The parrot, in this narrative, is that precious friend ; which of course means this jewel and all your favoured jewels remain your truest companions. They listen to you and speak to you and answer to you as well in the silence of their beauty, and when you wear them they tell you of how the beauty within you is revealed for all to witness, for though you may be invisible to yourself, the world then sees you in the true light of your divinity.

The ‘O Tiya!’ Kanbala is a monastic rara avis of a jewel that does justice to its role of an important accompaniment to the Sita-har but is much more than just that, being in itself an involving ornament which demands the attention you’d give a real friend and truly deserves exclusive rights to your company.

This kanbala was purpose-made for a young and very accomplished lady who's also a first-time customer. To know her better and how she came to A.Sirkar, here she is in her own words :

"I am Dr. Namrata Bhattacharya. I am a Gynecologist. Born and brought up in Kolkata, I did my MBBS from KPCMCH and then my MD from AIIMS, Rishikesh. I am presently working as a consultant gynecologist and infertility specialist in a fertility center in Kolkata. The little time I find out of work I try to indulge in reading, music and painting. I got to know about A. Sirkar from my best friend, Ricka, who was searching for the best wedding jewellery designs for me . . . like she has done for my make up, sarees,etc. She sent me the Instagram link and I instantly fell in love with the designs. Hence I couldn’t think of a different option for my special day."

We're not going to explain the karigari of the jewel this time. You know much about chasing and thokai and our signature ball-fringes from innumerable earlier posts of this nature and, by now, you're well-versed in the finer nuances of Bengali jewel-craft. Instead, let's head straight away to the symbolism.

We've used jora-Ilish as the central motif on this bespoke Kanbala, and the profusion of fish is evidence of the Bengali passion for it through most seasons between spring and fall. But, you'd say, the piscine couple is seen during Saraswati Puja in Bangal (as those from East Bengal are known) households, and this has nothing to do with what's held sacred in a marriage ceremony. Also, the fish in question that goes with the 'gaye halud' tattwa is never a hilsa but a pyknic Rui Maach, suitably decorated. Be that as it may, the jora-Ilish is the most powerful symbol of the attributes of fertility and fidelity conjoined. And Dr.Bhattacharya is a gynecologist — the kind of specialist doctor who'd use her science to great effect while addressing the modern woman's concerns regarding fertility, and ensure she puts that unquestionable power of creation squarely in the hands of her lady clients.

"Motherhood completes a woman." — is a statement that seems to have currency still in today's (especially Indian) society though among women aware and in full control of their reproductive health it has no purchase at all. We aren't baby-producing contraptions that can be switched on and off to someone else's will. The way to motherhood and the time for it will be chosen by us.

Regarding fidelity, well, what's there to say? A fish, however, potent in its auspicious connotations, can hardly guarantee faithfulness. Also, in matters of the heart and mind that lead to our expression of the agency of our bodies, we must always own our actions. Time draws back the curtain on things about people who we think we know closely yet are shown we know not at all — in ways good and bad. We weigh that — with our destiny firmly in grip — and decide the narrative of our future.

Enough said. The pair of fishes and their companions that populate this bespoke kanbala denote what they denote. Our life is for us to live on the terms we set. There are compromises to make without compromising ourselves, defects to accommodate without damage to our souls, and sorrows to bear yet none that we may allow to dim the brilliance of our muliebrity. There's loveliness and joy and fulfilment, too.

Handcrafted with care and due consideration in pure guinea gold for a young lady (and named, according to tradition, after her) on the verge of a delightful adventure called the 'journey of life', this kanbala, we hope, shall bring her much delight, much peace, and equal parts of happiness and contentment while she forges ahead on the the path to truth and beauty with the full force of her womanhood.

There's reason to go bespoke with your precious jewellery if you're of the bent of mind of Mrs.Sutapa Dutta or possess a heart as unreasonably generous as hers. 

Considering these kanbal...

There's reason to go bespoke with your precious jewellery if you're of the bent of mind of Mrs.Sutapa Dutta or possess a heart as unreasonably generous as hers. 

Considering these kanbalas took almost a year to design and make, it's imperative you be introduced to this supremely patient lady whose love for nature, her nature-loving husband (who's as well an avid birdwatcher), and her furry pets is quite strikingly equitable. This is just her second ornament from us and one that she left entirely to us to create.The first, a pendant, was an adaptation of an existing design. 

Here's Sutapa, revealing herself to you in her own words with complete candidness : 

"I live a very ordinary life. I work at an IT organisation, save some, spend more, travel around, eat and just go about.

What’s extraordinary though in my life is the amount of love I am surrounded with. My primary identity is of a proud pet mom, now living with six little fluff balls with their fur sticking everywhere. All our kids have their own unique story, but our greatest joy (although short-lived) has been adopting a senior dog last year. There is nothing sweeter than gaining the love and trust of an oldie. So for anyone planning to adopt, please consider the seniors.

Now back to the ordinary dreams in life: I have been pining for a piece of art designed by Brinda for years. I have always loved  the shape of kanbalas but I wanted one with a bit of whimsy. Thank you Brinda for creating this beautiful piece."

There's much more to say, but Sutapa, self-effacing as she almost dutifully is, would never reveal her manifold virtues beyond her brilliant career and also how truly noble and perseverant she is. Bunch that with her shining perspicuity and you have indeed a lady of peerless character with a personality to match, and a demeanour that's always chirpy — much like the happy birds her husband carefully observes in the vast aviary that a reserve forest or a national park usually is.

They travel a lot, the Duttas do. And Sutapa's earring "with a bit of whimsy" came about from their sojourns into woods and across verdant hills where birds became a sort of leitmotif — their presence always surrounding the two of them.
When Sutapa came to order her kanbalas, her only specification was that they should include birds in some way or the other. Of course, the jewel had to be sui generis as well, or why come to us. With that, and with shades of the ShivTara earring (from May, last year) pervading the wild arabesque of flowers and vines with the promised passerines hidden within it, this kanbala came into being. Meticulously handcrafted in pierced naksha, the ornament went through three trials in its basic chasing stage before being approved for completion, the crescentic cradle of fragrant phul-lata-pata a peaceful home to a pair of lovebirds, one with pearl and the other with ruby eyes that distinguish them but who are anyways so well camouflaged by the swirling creepers that only someone with a predilection for bird-watching, like Mr.Dutta, will be able to seek them out, that too with a strong magnifying glass instead of the regular binoculars. Or, you can simply enlarge the photograph to locate the birds.

The pasha heightens the "whimsy" by its rather sentimental evocation of Hans Christian Andersen's spirited 'Nightingale' who sits framed by a golden moon which in turn is framed by a laurel wreath. It's an apotropaic inclusion alluding to the curative song of the bird as it drives away darkness and restores the Emperor of China to health. May this papiya, imbued with the magic of veracious jewel-craft, always keep Sutapa and her family well and give them ceaseless joy and pleasure unending.

Note how the vines and flowers appear to take root from the dangling pear with its polished ball-karai drop. This calibrates the volume of the kanbala well and extends it with a whisper of a flourish. It also discreetly adds to the 'whimsy'.

A virtuous guinea-gold aviary, or Pakhiralay, of Sutapa's dreams comes alive with lovebirds — and a special nightingale, who's flown in from a fairy-tale set in the far, far east, to regale us with her songs — and fragrant flowers and rich foliage all rendered in intricate 'perfo'- naksha to adorn her in the way that the highest form of 'prakriti' — woman — should be. What's left is for her husband to complete her 'shringaar' by fastening the kanbala on Sutapa himself. That way the prakriti-purusha oneness is achieved, sealed by an act of romantic love in which adornment brings them together and makes them inseparable.

Classic ornaments have a habit of transmogrifying into jewels that inevitably turn out a further classic of no less individuality and pulchritude when the former is customized either by incorporati...

Classic ornaments have a habit of transmogrifying into jewels that inevitably turn out a further classic of no less individuality and pulchritude when the former is customized either by incorporating new details or adding elements or extensions that alter its basic form but without in any way compromising its character.

What bothers the mind here is the tampering needed to rejuvenate or refreshen or re-work a historic jewel but we're especially cautious about never letting the spirit of the original be smothered when the redesign is initiated. In fact, if such a circumstance were to arise where the ornament begins to look less beautiful than what its provenance qualifies it to be, we'd scrap the design and start from scratch, advising the customer of the change and its clear reasons.  

This jhumka-pasha is of a calibrated form taken from the Paroma pasha and the kettledrum jhumka of Zakhm-i-Gul, both subtly changed to suit the wearer and make them miscible to the point where they seem inseparable, as if they were always meant to be together like this. In a sense it's the progeny of both those classics, combining the best of each with focussed styling adjustments (the Zakhm-i-Gul loses its pradip-shikhas to a second row of ball beading because the moroseness from which that jewel was brought forth has been replaced by the delight in life that's the sum and substance of youth ; the Paroma pasha is quite the same but you'll note the naksha to be lighter, the tousled foliage more sinewy, and the pala-pearl jugalbandi replaced by a chuni-panna-mukto combination) that make them cohere semlessly and with elegance so that the fresh new jewel becomes instantly iconic. 

It's been made bespoke for a dynamic young lady of great refinement who was born in Delhi but brought up by a single parent in Calcutta and is a Government-panelled teacher and, more recently, a succesful entrepreneur.  Here's Ms. Bitan Mukherjee — after whom, as tradition demands, the earring is named —  telling us about herself in her own words : 

"My father passed away when I was two years old. My mother singlehandedly brought me up in Kolkata. My schooling is from Bidya Bharati Girls High School after which I read for an English (Hons) degree from Asutosh College of the University of Calcutta. I cracked the School Service Commission examination  and got a job in a Government School in 2009. I love my profession. I love being with my students. In 2017, I began my own event management and wedding planning business called CALENDAR Events. I love to spend time reading books and listening to music ; sarees are my first love and work is my only food for life."

We're deeply grateful to Bitan for choosing us to make her customized jhumka-pasha and pray that it brings her everlasting happiness and contentment. Goes without saying :  GulBitan, from the moment of its creation, has turned out a rightful classic, and in due course of time shall turn into a cherished heirloom as well.

There was a time, remember, when we were all renaissance people, independent of thought and action; when we didn’t subvert our freedom to State or to society or even family if it were one where ort...

There was a time, remember, when we were all renaissance people, independent of thought and action; when we didn’t subvert our freedom to State or to society or even family if it were one where orthodoxy and patriarchy prevailed in a way that made of us a shrunken shadow of ourselves. 

We were wild, but not in a sense destructive or shambolic. The quest was for beauty and for art to be intertwined with the very nature of our existence, each moment adding up to a continuum of life lived in the simple splendour of the perspicuity and veracity of our feelings.

We were wild, and so wildly pursued the truth. 

There’s not much to say about this jewel. It’s a full-kaan that incorporates three styles of exemplary workmanship : pierced naksha, ball-work, and tol-parh cut-work, the last realised in just the same manner in which such ornaments used to be made in the ‘30s and ‘40s. Interpret the anfractuous vines your own way, their flowers too ‘buno’ and varied to warrant definition. The large bloom, displaying its ribbed petals with their curled and polished edges, looks as if it might be magnolia but the him-champa doesn’t have a ruby core.

The scrolling flora turns out bacciferous, endowed with pola and firoza berries, and a single ruby fruit, while the only discipline to the piece comes from the graded ball outer border though even that’s dotted whimsically with turquoise and coral.

Tempus fugit ! Always be aware of that and never not acknowledge it or make it memorable. And don’t ever lose sight of who you really are — your mad and zetetic and truly antinomian self. The Aryanakanak is not just a fine jewel wrought by virtuous hands in rich guinea gold –– it’s also a lovingly and spontaneously carved tocsin in the form of a kaan that whispers in your ear and speaks unafraid to your heart, asking you, in Mary Oliver’s immortal words :   

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

It’s daunting – even thinking about designing something … anything … for someone who’s a masters degree holder in strategic design and management from none other than the legendary Parsons School o...

It’s daunting – even thinking about designing something … anything … for someone who’s a masters degree holder in strategic design and management from none other than the legendary Parsons School of Design, New York. Then, when you gather that’s backed by graduate studies in product design from an eminent institution in Pune, your heart sinks into a pool of anxiety. Still, un-garlanded as we may be by prominent qualifications, we put our heart and soul into it and do the best we can. 

Anushka is from Ahmedabad, the undisputed seat of modern design in India, and her creative streak was nurtured early there at the Zydus School for Excellence. Yet, says Anushka, “I’m a proud Bengali who loves her culture. When I’m not using my strategic design knowledge to solve complex economic and social issues, you’ll find me dancing to a tune or cooking and experimenting with various ingredients. And I love meeting people and listening to their unique stories.”

Needless to say, Anushka’s own story is unique as well but, we’ll admit, she’s even rarer than her story. It’s what made her choose her entire wedding ornaments from us, notwithstanding the distance of west to east, and come especially to place the order. That was almost a year ago. Her bespoke jewels were delivered this Monday.

A few of the ornaments were adaptations and amalgamations of previous designs but the elements chosen to be included or excluded made each a fresh goyna. Yet others were altogether newly drawn — such as this two-tier jhumka — and detailed in a way that made them sophisticated jewels of independent character but perfectly matched parts of the set as well.

The Anushka Jhumka (yes, we’ve named it in her honour, as is our tradition) uses Bengali naksha-work to stunning effect but not before being levelled by the matt-polished topee with its decorative katai brim that sits as the smaller jhumka within the jhumka-within-jhumka form of the earring. Both the tiers have a split-kadam fringe making each delicately tintinnabular.
The precisely-pierced anfractuous chasing, with indulgent floriation, on the larger jhumka contrasts the solid polished surface of the topee, and this juxtaposition of conflicting workmanships is perhaps where the genius loci of this arresting jewel lies.
The discal pashas are huge, almost Dhakai in their girth, and are just as formidable now as they will be when worn alone. The perforated naksha here is more orderly, but the nesting lotuses — from bud to young flower to full bloom — with their aura of orbs make for a stunning display of Bengal jewel-craft.
The earrings are of a palpably free-spirit, quite reflecting Anushka’s inherent personality, though their eminence and elegance are also secure in their form, artistry and functional details, and in their avoirdupois worn with simple grace.

Anushka’s wedding will be in Jaipur to a dashing young gent from Bombay whom she, naturally, chose herself. In that land of fantastic jewels and palaces will arrive a Bengali bride adorned in Bengali jewellery who through a Bengali ceremony will marry a Maharashtrian boy. We’re honoured she selected us to design and handcraft her fine jewellery for this grand occasion. And we wish her the very best in her married life. May her jewels of pure guinea gold bring peace and happiness to her new family and become cherished heirlooms that bestow upon her a radiant immortality.

In memory of her beloved Dida. 

This isn’t our design. It’s a grandmother’s gift of a cherished pendant to her favourite ‘natini’ that we’ve replicated to the latter’s express desire, bu...

In memory of her beloved Dida. 

This isn’t our design. It’s a grandmother’s gift of a cherished pendant to her favourite ‘natini’ that we’ve replicated to the latter’s express desire, but as a pair of classic kanbalas. Salutations to the young lady then for her sentiments and her insistence on keeping alive her Dida’s spirit in her fine gold jewellery.

This, though new, is a traditional pierced-naksha makar-mukh kanbala with its splendidly indented flower pasha ringed with a garland of hollow orbs. The little, free-swinging ‘bala’ within the bala repeats the raised topa borders of the earring and also has a ‘mukh’ that’s more leaf-like than something drawn from animal life. The void inside this is calibrated well by the joint ‘ekka’ and topa ensemble.

But enlarge the picture to see the detailing on the 'makars' :  note how the cheeks, hand-frosted using a blunt 'buli', seem pockmarked, in a technique not unlike that used in Pointillist paintings, except this is metal on metal instead of brush-and-paint on canvas. You'll know from this the depth of difference in making.The result : an ornament that isn't merely a likeness of another but one that's been painstakingly recreated employing workmanship identical to that of the sample pendant from more than six-seven decades ago.  

Copius ball-jhur fringing the bottom edge of the kanbala completes the jewel, imparts to it a feel of bohemia, and adds a certain peppiness that borders on the wild. Surely, Riti’s grandmother was an enchantress, in the best sense of that word, a bel-esprit of her time and, through this eternally beautiful jewel, ours too.

Wrought by hand with sensitivity and empathy in pure guinea gold, and finished in a dark antique polish, this kanbala is as much an imperishable testimonial to a grandmother’s historicity, a family’s good fortune, and the rare and noble virtues of a young 21st century lady, as it is an autotelic jewel of exquisite craftsmanship that holds its history with veracity, modesty and splendour in equal measure and makes it versal in a way that's enduringly charming. 

And still there are those who worry about today’s youth!  

With Riti's spontaneous order of this lovely bespoke kanbala in memory of her beloved Dida, the future does seem firmly handmade to last forever with a beauty bright and energetic. Such sensibilities, sentiments and refined taste can only speak of an enlightened generation. Things are looking up! There's reason to rejoice.

So much has been written about the jhumka in Bengali music that one wonders whether any other form of ornamentation of the ear might even deserve consideration in the lyrics of popular Indian songs...

So much has been written about the jhumka in Bengali music that one wonders whether any other form of ornamentation of the ear might even deserve consideration in the lyrics of popular Indian songs. But “Kanbala” doesn’t quite have the ring of “Jhumka” when it comes to rhythm and melody even if the actual ornament stands its ground as arguably the most becoming ear jewel of all. Still, given its nearest western equivalent, the 17th century girandole, lost its currency in the late 1890s, the kanbala has shown remarkable resilience in maintaining its popularity well into the 21st century and seen a remarkable renaissance of sorts in the last few years.  

But not this kind. This one’s a rare Joroa Kanbala pair set entirely with graded natural pearls. The crescentic shape is familiar and the fringe of pearl-embedded pennants speaks of the zeitgeist of the ‘50s and ‘60s when bouffants and georgettes needed substantial jewellery to balance, respectively, their volume and sheerness, the ornaments directing the eye with glitter and movement towards the face and neck and allowing the figure and coiffure with spontaneous grace to form a vinculum bordering on the statuesque. Such a lavish but tasteful bonding of apparel, hairdo and fine jewellery is all but unseen nowadays. The sensibilities that balanced reserve with outrageousness and always ensured the sensual remained within the boundaries of refinement seem to have dwindled into a clinquant showiness consumed with glee by the virtual world of the internet.

The wreath of flowers and foliage within the crescent is pure cut-work done with a goldsmith’s hacksaw and file, and the gems are all pavé set. The alignment of the blooms is of special interest :  See how the pasha, free-hanging drop, and the central blossom in the wreath all vertically fall in line. They’re the same flowers realised in carefully calibrated sizes to ensure the proportions of the kanbala are aesthetically faultless. And the polish, left natural yellow guinea-gold, does well to bring out the best in the stones and their recherché setting. Adapted from a diamond Kanbala wrought in white metal, these earrings that effloresce charmingly in pearls and gold are a debutante in the world of Bengal joroa jewellery but remain so disarming in their elegance and joyousness that they become instant classics and sure-shot heirlooms. 

Only someone brave of heart and free of soul would order this. And so we come to the illustrious Ms.Maitreyee Das of Chicago who, through persistent Instagram interactions, thought it fit to have this created specially for her. Her mother, in Calcutta, took delivery of the Kanbala on her behalf.

Here’s Ms.Das, a passionate athlete, loving mother, wildly successful professional, and effortless cosmopolite, in her own words:  

“I am a Research and Development engineer in Nokia in Chicago. I live in Chicago and am an electrical engineer. I do lots of hikes all over the world like in Europe, Chile, Argentina, USA, Peru, India. I run full marathons. I have run full marathons in Chicago, New York, Boston, Berlin, Tokyo and will be running my last of the six world major marathons in London in October. I am trained in Bharatnatyam dance and have performed many times. I have been following you on Insta for a long time and love your designs.”

 The jewel has been named after Maitreyee. It’s what we traditionally do for all fine jewellery made bespoke for you to new designs or those that have been extensively innovated upon. It’s also her first goyna from us. We thank her for her trust and patience and custom and wish these distinctive mukto-kanbalas give her endless happiness and peace. May the strength of her femininity be complemented by the jewel and may generations to come find the power of her will and feel her intrepid spirit in them.

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE
This is intended to be a Spot the Difference puzzle for you since you know our handcrafted ornaments well and have been further famil...

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE
This is intended to be a Spot the Difference puzzle for you since you know our handcrafted ornaments well and have been further familiarised with them over the past eight odd years that we've been on Facebook. 

Look carefully at the given photograph. It shows you what you assume to be the Mayurpur 'Jhapta' Earring. In fact, for all intents and purposes it is. But there are vital differences in detailing and form that will be apparent when you compare both intimately. These you have to reveal and describe. We'll help you a bit with that: 

Regarding the form, this jhapta dul is longer, four-and-a-half inches top to bottom, and the crescentic tiers are narrower, more compressed, making the earring slender and elegant but without the coverage of the original.

That's the wonder of bespoke jewellery: much more special, more emotion driven, more symbolic, and ultimately more rewarding than any kind of made-to-measure ornaments, and worlds apart from the readymades. Even while ordering your favourites — and the Mayurpur Jhapta Dul certainly is one — the details can be tweaked to make the ornament specific to you while universal in its beauty. This dazzling four-step naksha earring epitomises that unique characteristic of bespoke handmade jewellery.

REGULATIONS
Now, what  you have to do is spot all the differences in detailing between this and the original Mayurpur Earring that we'd posted here on 27th August, 2015 and describe them individually for us. To make things easier, we'll tell you how many such differences there are : three — so that you don't go hunting for them with a microscope. Let us know the three differences in detailing in words of your choice that have to describe in full the variations. There can't be any shortcuts here. You have to be specific.

*Just to perk things up, three of the correct answers, the names chosen through a lottery, will each be awarded a single guinea-gold coin of one gram. 

*Only one answer per friend will be accepted and any edit on the answer will automatically disqualify it, so we request you organise your reply before posting it. 

*For inclusion in the lottery, answers can be given in till midnight (IST) of Tuesday, 17th May, 2022. All answers to be sent to our Inbox, please.

*The comments section will be open for your general observations but the SPOT THE DIFFERENCE answers will have to be inboxed. 

Things are looking up across the world. We thought we might, in a very small way, share the hope and joy going around with just a touch of gold. Also, this isn't some marketing gimmick involving tawdry gifts. We respect your artistic acuity and your taste ; also your innate aesthetic sensibilities. You know how to separate wheat from chaff, just as you know God's in the details. It's those details that you, with your discerning eyes, will examine here. 

Have fun! And Best of Luck to You.

Sometimes I wear these earrings on their own ; not with the guluband. When he's on a campaign far away and I have no reason to wear a necklace to bed, I let the presence of his absence distill itse...

Sometimes I wear these earrings on their own ; not with the guluband. When he's on a campaign far away and I have no reason to wear a necklace to bed, I let the presence of his absence distill itself onto my bare neck. Solitude is no less an ornament for those who've grown to love while wanting not to.

The magic tree, in its intricate pierced naksha, is as alive as ever, its gravidity bright and palpable. I can feel the flowers bloom : the rubies, turquoise, pearls, corals and emeralds all decorating the plant with an ethereal vividness. But more than the beauty of the garden, it's the psittacene drama that I find rapturous. The royal parrots — their ruby eyes alert and sparkling — that have always so dutifully guarded the guluband's three panels are here no longer at their posts and now perch atop the ratna-briksha in a partnership so perfect that it can only be borne out of love. 'Love over duty?' comes to mind, a reprimand forms itself, and is almost immediately followed by 'Perhaps, love is duty.'

The parlour window opens to a vast vista of an unending range of verdant hills with a single meandering river causing a spectacularly anfractuous valley to wind through its centre. The palace, high on its own mound, is scarcely in touch with the teeming humanity that enlivens the village far below. Yet, every afternoon I wait till the mauve cloud goes by for the bishudi to raise its distintive timbre to the wind. There's a longing to the sound that my heart seems to find a strange affiliation with. But when the nagara answers the flute with playfully amorous energy, its roll reverberating across the undulating landscape as if to return to the hills their lost heartbeat, mine too quickens to its pace, lifting me away from my seclusion and casting me among the womenfolk of the town, dancing with them and singing in merriment the Laman songs of simple love. To match the rhythm of the music and singing, I flick the ghungroos on my earrings and willingly go into a blissful trance.

I wear parts of his umlakh, his crown, him, as my personal adornment. The three chains that affix the panel to the helix of my ear are needed to ensure the jewel never comes undone. Though far, far away, he stays close, whispers sweet nothings that are everything to me. Filtered through the guinea gold floriation of the frieze, I hear his love. And I feel his fragrant breath on mine. 

"Radhe! Firmly reject this shrewd son of the king of Vraja, O immoral girl! Listen! Don't be weak! I'm saying it for Your own good. Don't submit to Him!"

Such advice from her loyal sakhi Lali...

"Radhe! Firmly reject this shrewd son of the king of Vraja, O immoral girl! Listen! Don't be weak! I'm saying it for Your own good. Don't submit to Him!"

Such advice from her loyal sakhi Lalita may not have fallen on deaf ears but did precious little to alter the course of the love to end all love or, if you will, the love above all love.

This karna-veshtana is evidence that the modern-day Radhika Gupta — for whom her husband, Tridib, got the jewel made bespoke for their anniversary — is as much in love with and is equally loved by her life partner as the Radha of Indian mythology.

In Dubai the two of them, with their fiercely talented daughter Dhriti, have now made their home after Tridib’s international finance-management career saw them travel across four countries through the last ten years. That blazingly successful stint makes Radhika just as much Mahalakshmi for she, no doubt, has been the greatest contributor to her husband’s remarkable ascension. A graduate first-class and a B.Ed to boot, Radhika has not only been a popular teacher but a guiding force as well behind her daughter’s emergence as a brilliant pianist.

This kaan was ordered a year ago. Taking its design cues from the Kumudini Kaan-Jhumka of 2017 vintage, it differentiates in its meticulous detailing.

A single enlarged halud-chameli takes pride of place surrounded by sweet sandhya-malatis and a rose sprig. The anfractuous floriated infill is protected by a line of naksha-topas which again is bordered by a continuous row of water snowflakes (this feature’s from the earlier jewel). All of this is framed by an uninterrupted edging of orbs with tin-karai finials.

The jhumka, with its two-tiered ball border and single ball-jhur fringe is a perfect match for the kaan, it’s domed form decorated with scrolling naksha the flowers and foliage of which resemble those of the kaan but which have deliberately been varied ever-so-slightly to ensure the jhumka succeeds just as spectacularly on its own with any pasha of your fancy.

This is not the stuff of clinquant romance. Guinea gold jewels such as these connote love everlasting of the kind that makes spiritual the very act and action of love-making. The ornament covers the entire ear and, as the karna-veshtana, becomes part of Radha’s floral adornment.

Realised entirely in virtuoso pierced-naksha, the Radhika Kaan-Jhumka is for all you who believe in transcendental love and are willing to submit yourself to its gloriously liberating, even transformative, force. It’s what made a mischievous Radha Gupta become the beauteous ‘Radhika’ — a name given her by her devoted husband in pure affection, and by which she allows only him to call her. 

In August last year when we released the Gulistan Choker there weren't any matching earrings to it. It's heartening to know then that when at last a pair was made, it was a pasha and not a dangler ...

In August last year when we released the Gulistan Choker there weren't any matching earrings to it. It's heartening to know then that when at last a pair was made, it was a pasha and not a dangler or kanbala or jhumka, and was created bespoke for a young lady who'd selected Gulistan and felt a companion piece for the ears was imperative.

That pashas are no longer considered to be fuddy-duddy accessories is evident from the fact that we've been doing an increasing number of them as stand-alone jewels or matched to necklaces of various kinds — all for young girls, and many of them to-be brides. That alone is a very comforting thought — that the timelessness of certain kinds of fine hand-wrought jewellery is now being acknowledged universally. There's hope for Bengal jewel-craft as a valuable decorative art form, still.

The pasha's a simplification of the Gulistan choker's primary articulation of a rose garden — there the Gulistan of Sa’di of Shiraz reimagined as the poet's fragrant golap bagan : "rich with meaning, fragrant with wisdom, and glorious in its articulation of a ‘Gulistan’ as the paradise we choose for ourselves when we walk the path of truth and beauty." — that here becomes a guldasta of three fresh roses mixed with acanthus sprigs and sundry vines. There's no more space for further articulation and the chased rope and ball border both frame the bouquet well while the meticulously crafted pierced naksha makes certain the roses can be smelt.

There's merit in that. The young — like Sampanna for whom this jewel was made and after whom it's named — are virtuous. They've woken up and smelt the roses. And then chosen to immortalise them in pure guinea-gold as a recherché jewel. In doing so, they've, knowingly or unknowingly, immortalised themselves.

The start of many a family's history can be traced back to a single extraordinary goyna. Sampanna is of just that kind. 

The Ramnagarer Shonar Haathi Sita-Har, the one we opened the year with, finds its companion piece at last in these earrings. The necklace took fourteen months in manufacture; this, sixty days more....

The Ramnagarer Shonar Haathi Sita-Har, the one we opened the year with, finds its companion piece at last in these earrings. The necklace took fourteen months in manufacture; this, sixty days more. Of those, just to prevent the elephants turning inwards required three experimentations with stringing and finally the weighing down of the pachyderms by filling them with golden lac.
The pearl strands interspersed with gold ball-beads echo those of the necklace and the pashas are the Sita-Har's side-pieces. Everything's identical (and made to relevant scale) save a small detail : the elephant's pearl-strung anklets have here become ones that sport triple-pearl jhurs. Also, the pearl string on the headdress has been done away with because the gathai-mukto emerges directly from the haathi and a pearl crown would've crowded things up unnecessarily.

The length of the earrings is generous and they'll likely be shoulder-dusters for many. The good thing is that you can alter the length to your need by just adding or removing pearls from the five strings. For a change of colour, you're free to re-do the strands with precious gem beads of chuni or panna or blue sapphire, if you so wish.

It's significant, the posting of this piece today. It's Sunday and not yet daybreak in Calcutta. And it's not the Pujas, but we imagine it to be. Maa Durga, when she returns to her Kailash abode on a Robi-baar will do so on her assigned vahana. But we've readied the Ramnagarer Shonar Haathi for her. She can't possibly refuse. Travelling on this regal elephant she'll bring peace and happiness and prosperity to all in this world.

And when the jet engines start up and the elegant aircraft in its white livery taxies towards the runway, the Dum Dum airport old terminal tearfully waving goodbye, and the pilot announces much too fast and in a rigorously rehearsed voice, "Ladies and Gentleman, As-Salaam-Alaikum! Welcome on board this Emirates flight EK571 to Dubai . . .", we'll know it's not a Boeing 777 she's seated in but on our Shonar Haathi that's grown wings and will fly her to the Middle East and then to England safely and pleasantly. Throughout the way, and back in her island residence, she'll know she dwells truly in the garba-griha of our heart, and that this is her home, her real and beautiful home that she must soon return to, and one day, also soon, return to forever. 

In the morning, in front of the elders, the parrot
Starts mimicking the sounds
Of last night’s love play.
Embarrassed she claps her hands,
“Dance! Dance!”she orders the children...

In the morning, in front of the elders, the parrot
Starts mimicking the sounds
Of last night’s love play.
Embarrassed she claps her hands,
“Dance! Dance!”she orders the children.
The chatter of the parrot is lost
in the jingle of her earrings.

This poem, 'The Parrot', by Amaru, one of the supreme early lyric (Sanskrit) poets of India, has been tampered with. We’ve changed the last word, an article of jewellery, to ‘earrings’ from ‘bangles’. This in order to suit our purpose, for while the mudras in classical Indian dance may well cause gold bangles to jingle, the physicality of each such performance would also result in earrings like these swinging about to the tempo of the movement and thereby emitting their own sweet music from the double row of kadamphul jhumurs, with polished discs in between, that edge the jewel.

The embroidery of scrolling floriated naksha, faceted half-topas, and rows of mihi-rejis and paktar are seen in bands on the skirt. The border of chhela inverted mangoes and a finial of sorts of two large naksha ones hold the garment in place while Manipuri highlights at the top and bottom lighten the busy patterning.The tops are also Manipuri-style pradips.

An ornament for intrepid lovers, this. But even if you don’t have a pet parrot that’ll tell on you, be careful the euphonious ring of your Chaahat-Chaniya earrings don’t give you away. And if all this sounds somewhat ambiguous — what ‘chaahat’, why ‘chaniya’? — wait for the necklace, of which these are the matching kanbalas, to make its appearance over the weekend for a more complete picture of the half-parure.

Handcrafted in rich yellow guinea-gold and given that earthy polish so essential to its bohemian spirit, this pair of earrings captures the complete abandonment of celestial love and asks you the question central to your soul : Have you loved without shame, without fear, without loathing, without reticence, ever?

After that barrage of recaps during the Dhanteras–Diwali period, a return to sanity warrants an ornament small but significant. Here’s a jewel modelled on the traditional ‘tarkulia’ surya-motif sil...

After that barrage of recaps during the Dhanteras–Diwali period, a return to sanity warrants an ornament small but significant. Here’s a jewel modelled on the traditional ‘tarkulia’ surya-motif silver discal earrings from Central India but given an elaborate if serene jhumka, that’s detachable, to enhance its power as a stand-alone goyna.

The openwork central boss has chhela wire rays radiating out from the single naksha sunflower. Around this is an ekka-tar surround and then a halo of graduated double orbs. That's three kinds of karigari commingling effortlessly to give us the pashas.

The jhumka is a mirror-polished dome capped with a large katai-flower. The critical aspect of it is that the plain surface reflects light dramatically, becoming in itself a sun-like entity. A ring-reji border and two rows of big-and-small ball beads reflect the idiom of the ‘tarkulia’ pasha and then a notched bezel enables the captivating double-row single-ball fringe that makes the pasha and the jhumka cohere with the natural harmony of their designs. Yet both parts are eminently wearable as separate ornaments, the jhumkas with any plain gold tops.

To support the ‘tarkulia’ from leaning away from the ear and to ease any stress that the downward pull of the jhumka might exert upon the lobe, a simple pearl and gold tana is provided that is also detachable, the rings (adjustable) fixing to the earring posts while the hook clamps on to the helix to keep the ensemble firmly in place. The pearls on the tana can be changed to chains if you want an all-gold look but just a touch of mukto never appears out of place on a fine gold jewel.

There’s no overt heliolatry required of us to make this splendid ‘tarkulia’– jhumka our own. The surya is an enduring motif in all our cultures. In this distinct jhumka-pasha, the solar symbolism becomes us. In harnessing the power of the sun –– the fact that it's the source of light and life –– the jewel brings about a oneness of nature with us women as the vital creative force of the universe. 

Often enough we’re asked to design to match an accessory to a main ornament and sometimes, though rarely, the other way round as well. In both cases it’s important to study the ornament with which ...

Often enough we’re asked to design to match an accessory to a main ornament and sometimes, though rarely, the other way round as well. In both cases it’s important to study the ornament with which the new jewel is being paired for nuances of style and workmanship to ensure a cogent design that, if not enthralling, will at least be remarkable, and replete with individual merit. But such qualification of stellar craftsmanship is not enough –– the jewel also has to suit the wearer-owner.

This stylized butterfly has for its jewelled wings the carefully reproportioned scrolling motifs of the segments flanking the centrepiece of the joroa collar to which it has been commissioned to be a matched earring.

We’re grateful for any order from you, always. But if we don’t exceed your expectations, and surprise and delight you with what we create bespoke for you, the very basis of your decision to come to us in the first place is lost.

We were asked to make matched earrings : we created aliferous ones! – Style. We were asked to make matched earrings : we decided upon kanbalas! –– Form. We were asked to make matched earrings : we replicated the swirls, the stones (and their combination) and the pavé setting –– Technique.

A butterfly, symbolic of your elegant freedom, came into being, despite not being requested, playfully floating on its plain bichha restraints, its antennae curled into collets of red stone, its proboscis unfurled, ready to ingest the sweet nectar of universal admiration.The body is encrusted with bands of the same red stones, and a single drop dangles spontaneously from it just as the one from the cluster top does, though, in the latter, there’s a rice pearl affixed as an extension to it that brilliantly modulates the space between the chains.

In life, we get to choose the colours with which to make vibrant our time on earth. It’s the butterfly’s fate to be only red and white and that too a white from cubic zirconium and a glassy chemical red because that's what the necklace is set with. Had we had the lenience, we’d have decorated it in zircon, rubies and pearls. Still, it’s bright and beautiful, and imbued with an infectious reverse biophilia –– it seems to love humans and truly comes into its own only when at home on a human ear. And from there it wants to travel places not just to see but to be seen.

Unlike the actual projapoti with its short life span, this joroa version in exquisite cutwork is ageless. And it makes you immortal too by embodying your spirit in the everlasting beauty of its guinea-gold craftsmanship.

When it willingly forsakes its freedom to give you wings, you know jewels of such virtuous character can only become heirlooms, most cherished, loved and revered. 

A Loreto girl, Mili Mary D’Cruze was destined to lead. There wasn’t any ‘climbing the corporate ladder’ for her because she made certain she started at the top, as an administrative officer in a bl...

A Loreto girl, Mili Mary D’Cruze was destined to lead. There wasn’t any ‘climbing the corporate ladder’ for her because she made certain she started at the top, as an administrative officer in a blue chip company. Wildly successful, she still held close a secret passion, preventing it from detracting her from her shining career in industry. Not for long. Love came by and swept her off her feet. The joys of motherhood followed, and her infant daughter, Avisha, proved epiphanic. Mili Mary’s love for fashion and decoration now seemed to pull her away from her job and the feeling deep within that her creativity needed a language, both unique and universal, to converse with a wider world began to get stronger and more athletic. She took the plunge. Naming her online store after her child, Avisha’s Couture became, instantly, the darling of discerning women who found tastefully niche apparel, accessories, and decorative articles now within easy reach. The boutique store, housed in Mili Mary’s own marvellous home, has become quite an internet phenomenon, and the feisty, beautiful lady is indeed holistically living her dream.

Facebook brought Mrs.D’Cruze to us. She wanted to order for herself the Punkah Necklace that she’d seen on our page but for the earrings desired a full–Kaan with Jhumka, made bespoke.

The idiom for the Kaan needed to be the same as that of that iconic neckpiece but evolved to address Mrs.D’Cruze’s commanding and creative character. She’s a warrior, she is. At once fiercely independent, a caring wife, and doting mother who had the courage and confidence to close the curtains on her lucrative corporate career, marry for love, bear a child and bring her up (she’s five years old, now) with undivided attention, and then dramatically draw open the drapes to reveal a beautifully decorated world where she’s the heroine who takes centre stage and addresses the audience in a voice as powerful as it is pulchritudinous — her fulgent feminacy stands out as the innate character, the indestructible armour, of a true champion.

As such, when the kaan was designed, it morphed the tender shape of the punkah to that of a bow. The delicate fretwork, enamelled touches, and the seed pearl border all remain, but they’re now compressed into the firmness of a 'dhonuk'. The five-petalled flowers in maroon mina, with pearl centres, help admit thoughts of peace but the taut kamal-chain bowstring, with a single pearl in the middle, stakes claim to the brave warrior whose jewel this is. When they’re needed, the unseen arrows shall be dipped in love or war.

The kettledrum jhumkas are identical to the matched ones originally paired with the necklace.

Hand-wrought in rich guinea-gold and drawn in design with Mrs. D’Cruze’s unflagging strength of spirit as an inspiration to all of us independent women, the ornament is as unique as Mrs.D’Cruze unequivocally is. We are honoured to have had the opportunity to create a rare jewel for one who stands tall in her practice of 21st century Indian womanhood. The kaan-jhumka, naturally, is named after her.

Here, in her own words, is Mrs. Mili Mary D’Cruz.

“I follow A.Sirkar jewellery. Just love each creation and the creativity in general. Punkah was one of my favorites but I wanted something different and desired it to be designed by Brinda-di. It is said that when one has a strong desire for something and truly yearns for it, she/he will get it. And so, indeed, it happened that my Kaan was designed by her magical hands. It's like ‘tapasya kore paoa’. Just in love with it.”

Dungarpur’s royal family shifted to the Udai Bilas Palace in the early twentieth century and from a few years after that Juna Mahal’s been almost abandoned, a lone caretaker-curator the only resident. Since when we posted the choker, no attempt to resuscitate the palace has been made and now it’s even more decrepit although you still walk upon carpets more than a couple of hundred years old and the Shish-Mahal on the top floor does glint gold in the setting sun and, as night falls, comes alive with a favourite concubine’s entreaties to the king to silence the wine and repair to bed, as his wife, the Maharani, in her third floor suite, hides her loneliness in wakeful sleep from the eavesdropping moon of the desert.

The King’s chambers on the first floor, the grand halls, the parewa-stone jaalis, are all there, yet defacement is rampant and a certain decay is evident in the mouldy smell of the place and in the powdery dust, like dimmed abhra, that seems to have settled over every surface. Slowly, nature seems to be taking over as well : gnarled trees trying to muscle their way through stone are unwanted residents but by sheer force of will have made the rock yield to their presence. And the almirah with KamaSutra paintings within has been closed to view unless adult visitors specifically ask to see it.

None miss the parakeets from the hall ceiling, and no-one notices another couple of pairs secreted away to be enshrined in gold, their sacred, erotic love displayed with pride in exquisite pierced naksha on these kan-pashas. The scrolling stems with flowers and leaves of various kinds knit a verdant setting for the birds and the vigorous vermilion polish imparts a richness to the chased and pierced pattern that can only otherwise be acquired over time. In spectacular fashion, in rich guinea gold, in rare handworked naksha, the legend of a crumbling 13th century desert palace comes alive. These two pairs of tenderhearted parakeets, in their new and lustrous home, surrounded by a halo of chiselled ball-karais, shall ensure it lives forever.

It's a challenge making an ornament from an ornament in a photograph from a printed magazine or its digital version, even it's someone as legendary as Madhuri Dixit wearing it, and especially becau...

It's a challenge making an ornament from an ornament in a photograph from a printed magazine or its digital version, even it's someone as legendary as Madhuri Dixit wearing it, and especially because we, as a rule, do not replicate things from others' designs and only make an exception when you ask us to do so.Given that the photograph, in this case, was a hazy reproduction of the star wearing a certain kind of earring that we were asked to reproduce, the challenge became even more interesting considering the interpretations of form and details we'd have to resort to in order to create more than recreate what was there. And so we did. As what's here for you to see is whether we've been able to do justice to the original and forge ahead and bring forth a design so individualistic yet universal that no one but the most skeptical should disapprove.

Spot the difference between the two and your journey towards infinity begins right here, right now. Otherwise, everything follows the goyna in the photograph, albeit to our interpretation.

A cascade of chains emerges a chandrapuli of fine handcrafted patterns put together in the form of a half moon, at the centre of which there's an ekka-wire sun that doubles up as a pasha. The semi-circular fanlight echoes the chandrapuli shape and has a stone at its heart but is not stone-hearted by any measure.There's flexibility, sophistication, and a certain kind of licentious charm about the earrings and it dazzles when worn. Add to that the pizzazz inherent to the ornament, especially if you're dancing in them, and be sure these will be the showstoppers at any do in or out of town.

There's a secret the earrings harbour but we're not at liberty to tell you that. Just enjoy the guinea-gold jewel and by noticing every bit of it, uncover its mystery. Suffice it to say that when you do, you'll be filled with wonder.

We could name this after Madhuri Dixit considering the actual photograph is of her, but the more we think of it the more we feel Helen stirring within us. She's the one who'd carry this off best, is our opinion. So, we've christened her 'Helen' instead.

The indescribably beautiful matched earrings to the Sraboni choker of January, 2017 and Kukubha Ragini Necklace from August of the same year, this exotic jewel deserves a separate article on it see...

The indescribably beautiful matched earrings to the Sraboni choker of January, 2017 and Kukubha Ragini Necklace from August of the same year, this exotic jewel deserves a separate article on it seeing how popular it's been over the last couple of years. Everything's intact : the identical "naksha jora-mayur" from the centrepiece of both necklaces, and the "double-muchkunda phul jhumka", the detailing of the ball-karai border, and the familiar reddish polish. That leaves us the tops : an excellent example of how, even if you're dealing with the most iconic of ornaments and making a pair of earrings matched to them, you should never go by the rule book, but instead design something that alludes to the main goyna, while at the same time being of such bold currency that it works as an independent jewel as well.

And so it is that the earring succeeds spectacularly on both counts, and this is in no small part due to the katai-reji-paktar eye-shot (of a peacock's feather) tops that are individualistic in form yet integrated of purpose.

Those you who love amorous peacocks might want to consider these earrings with or without the necklace/s. Either way, you'll be ready for love.

Great beauty at times comes from a heavy heart. Flowers, in whatever form, have a habit of sharing our joys and sorrows, and the rose among them foremost in presenting itself in life and in death w...

Great beauty at times comes from a heavy heart. Flowers, in whatever form, have a habit of sharing our joys and sorrows, and the rose among them foremost in presenting itself in life and in death with equal charm and that distinctive fragrance that pervades just as much the wedding night as it does life's last journey.

Often enough, we're hurt by those close to us in ways we'd never have foreseen, so near were we to them that the larger picture, so to say, was far removed from our view. Then again, there are moments of shattering loss and betrayal we are not prepared for and the meaning of which we find not prehensible, however much we try to come to terms with them.

It's terrible to be reductive about such things and dismiss them as 'a passing phase' or just brush them aside with empty platitudes about 'clouds with silver linings', 'after the rain comes the sun', and so on and so forth. No, we have to deal with them here and now.

Choose an ornament for yourself that'll be your panacea during such times. It could be anything, big or small, old or new, an heirloom or of special make, but easily wearable, that you feel good in, and one which must answer to you and hold within it the magic of uplifting your spirits in dour and dark phases of your life. Write your own story and let that jewel be the deus ex machina that steps in to set things right for you.

You've seen most of what's on this page as other independent ornaments. Here, the rose plaque with ball beading becomes a pasha from which the plain kettledrum jhumka is suspended. There's ball beading on these too but below them hundreds of pradip shikhas light the reflective domes and cast upon you the undying glow of happiness. The pierced naksha of the foliage on the disc is rich, yet the rose is wounded and hurting. But not for long. She'll revive, alright, and live to tell the tale of her triumph over life's usual trials and tribulations, and leave behind a memory trail of personal glory and love fulfilled.That's a given.

We are all ourselves, at some point of time, the story of the wounded rose. As the Zakhm-i-Gul of the title, we mould and strengthen ourselves in pure guinea gold and beckon the positive to come and merge with us as we cast far away from our minds the poison of blackness. If jewelry of truly sinless provenance should have the power to work wonders for its wearer, so should you have the same good magic deep within you to draw upon to realise how truly beautiful you are at any time, in any circumstance, anywhere. We are the Guls that never wither, never die. Our immortality is writ large across infinite timelines through which we live as we live and then live on as shining memory.

Your pansophy, and thus your greatness, is for all to see.

The cluster top is traditional, using all nine gems ; the three-stick suspension system is decidedly not. The hanger draws from the left endpiece of the necklace and the ruby flower sees a brave contrast with the turquoise furls alongside. The seven pearl strings can be varied in length to suit your profile and deliver the desired effect, especially if you’re wearing these danglers alone. Finally, the fanned out leaves and central blossom of the main lower bracket make general a specific bespoke design so that while wearing just the earrings no one will really think them to be part of a set while complementing the necklace perfectly when used as a matched ear ornament to it. The combination of stones, here too you will notice, is remarkably different and courageous, if we may say so, perfectly reflecting the personality of the young and very accomplished lady for whom it has been created. The pearl drop at the bottom balances the ample strings of the mid-section and adds length to the jewel without increasing its volume, at the same time giving the joroa the proper frame in which to speak. And speak it will, this pair of recherché gem-set earrings, in the one language of beauty and care and sincerity and love, for it is with these ingrained characteristics of art that they’ve been painstakingly wrought by hand in pure 22K gold.

Your patronage of such designs and skill of making gives them the desired visibility and makes authentic Bengal jewellery one of the finest living craft traditions of the world and one that most strongly assures us that the future is, indeed, handmade.

Dalim gaachhe Mou

Eto daki tobu katha

Kou na keno Bou?"

Jogindranath Sarkar's lovable rhyme for children, well known to lots of pre-internet Bengalis who've enc...

Dalim gaachhe Mou

Eto daki tobu katha

Kou na keno Bou?"

Jogindranath Sarkar's lovable rhyme for children, well known to lots of pre-internet Bengalis who've encountered many of these little poems while growing up, comes alive in this recherché kaan-jhumka where the depiction of a parrot in a flowering custard-apple tree is an antithesis of the tree itself which is more a shrub that needs scant care to grow and is not really noted for its shapeliness. Instead, the carefully pierced naksha of flowers and curvy stems and leaves enchants with its intricacy, and the bird --- note its distinctive neck-rings and flowing tail --- is detailed immaculately to stand out in the arabesque.

It is a known fact that parrots adore sitaphal, but in this guinea-gold verse, the tree and the tota pakhi are quite evidently in love with each other, and the ornament glows, as they do, as much in their individual beauty as in the beauty of their remarkable bonding.

The bees in the pomegranate tree haven't the carriage to be included in the design --- and there isn't enough space to be frivolous --- but the ample foliage of the jhumka, also in perforated naksha, with its ball border and single ball-jhur scallop, more than makes up for it. The ball-karai edging on the kaan is another detail to be considered : it frames the goyna and contains it, not allowing the chased patterns to get out of hand.

While a sort of nursery rhyme, the last two lines are significant in a very different way and have been lost over time as the poem, as recited, always ends with the question the husband asks of his bride, "I call you, call out to you, over and over / yet you stay silent and heed not my plea, pray why?"

The missing words have been said to be either of these :

"Gaye boro jaala

Hoy na katha bola !"

or

"Katha koibo ki chholé

Katha koité ga jwolé !"

In both, the wife replies with a common refrain. She's pained to answer her husband. It seems the reason his entreaties are falling on deaf ears is because he's been guilty of causing her some sadness which cannot be assuaged by gifts (say, of sarees or jewellery) or through his obvious gift of the gab. Only genuine remorse and a humble asking for forgiveness may somewhat correct the matter, but that too depending on her willingness to absolve him of his grave misconduct without a fittingly long waiting period. It is most definitely not a 'Let's kiss and make up' scenario he finds himself in.

Well, in so far as that furthers the aspect of who we are and choose to remain over time amidst the meaningful relationships we gather around us, we may hope at least to be like the parrot and the aata tree and hold our own in each other's company in life's every chapter with grace and beauty.

This handcrafted kaan-jhumka, made to complement an elaborate choker we'll showcase later, speaks in the unerring voice of that symbiotic partnership, that attachment which comes about when we love each other enough to know we must forever live with pride and respect for each other's differences and find our happiness in that, no matter what.

Made by a...

Made by a line of all but extinct master artisans, these immaculately hand-chased, hand-crafted beauties give an altogether different spin to the word "earrings" and are guaranteed show-stoppers everywhere.

You deserve to be centre stage.