There’s nothing to these chooris that recommends they be ordered with us. Anyone can make them. And for a price far below that which we are likely to quote. We’ve called them Reshmi Chooris because they’re highly reflective and mirror the colours around them, wherever, and with whatever apparel, they’re worn.

Otherwise, they are merely square wires made on a mechanical pat-daulna, filed, soldered and buffed to make them seem like rings of slim gold ribbon ready to grace your hands.

There is more to the story of why these are handmade when machine-manufactured models look similar, are lighter, and seem more glossy ——but who’s listening.

In these days of crass commodification of fine gold jewellery, price-sensitivity, consumerist priorities, and immediate pecuniary gain reduce art to product. When counting and calculating trumps feeling, you know meaning no longer exists in the realm of the intangible and now connotes an evaluation not of goodness or virtues nonmaterial but of price. And so, nothing is priceless anymore, to most.

The Reshmi chooris are a simple lot of bangles. They look good only when worn together, and in a bunch of not less than six, though interpersing them individually with other bangles is an option that also works splendidly, especially if you’re going to a big enough ‘do’ where such glamour is not just desirable but almost de rigueur.

Another thing, in the time of the Gold Control regime, plain chooris used to be made very often as investments for the future that, say, when a daughter’s marriage came up, could be exchanged for various and many ornaments of the latest style and workmanship. If that sort of outlook’s a condition, these are the jewels to park your money in. And then you needn’t order them with us.

If simplicity and the art of monastic manufacture is what draws you to these Reshmi Chooris, and you care about enduring beauty, go ahead and claim them as yours. You could choose our make, here, or someone else’s whose knowledge of Bengal gold jewel-craft, fully handmade, extends to the fact that these plain-looking bangles are actually terribly difficult to make but last forever in their handmade, guinea-gold avatar.

As for the conundrum, why not let the jewel speak. After all, we do have to answer to someone.

A few of us will lay our hand-tools at the feet of Lord Vishwakarma in a day’s time, while most will garland their modern machines in worship. As votive, we offer these utterly simple chooris to Him, and to You for You are the very embodiment of Ma Lakshmi.

Let You and He be the rightful judge of truth and beauty. And may Your verdict bestow upon the virtuous the blessing of immortality.

Here, you’ll note the skeins tightly wound and made into an adjustable 'dori', the tufted tassel replaced with a polished-cap ekka-tar guinea-gold jhumka. The jewels are purpose-made as armlets. Just as happily, though, they’ll double up as svelte chokers when the thread arrangement is made open-ended for you to tie at the nuque. That way, they’ll be both neckwear and opor-haath with complete spontaneity and equal charm.

The chasing is precise but still has that delightful earthiness which only handmade can bring about, and includes a slim rope border that seems more like milgrain because of the fineness with which it's been realised. The scrolling pattern is of the Himalayan Agaliphul (with a single pearl tied in place in the centre of each bloom) that’s seen here protected from the cold winds by its own leafy stem curling around it, with spare foliage covering the ground between the blossoms. The pattern is repeated and double chased to achieve the splendid effect of floral realism and, framed by a string of seed pearls, results in a delicate frieze of extraordinary clarity and simplicity.

Note also the deliberate contrast of the jhumka's workmanship which uses polished surfaces and twisted wire as a counterpoint to the chased floriated scrollwork of the band and you'll know the kind of detailing that goes into each of our ornaments, even if they be as dainty as these two armlets.

The Agaliphul Opor-haath is an ornament where different cultures of jewellery-making commix with a surprisingly copacetic result. The form is of the Rajasthani nogari, the chasing's pure Bengali, and the jhumka at the end of the twined thread is a pared-down version of the elaborate 'sumbala' of Himachal Pradesh. Also, the Agaliphul, by another name, is the windflower (now you know the aeolian influence upon the design that needed the blooms to be guarded against the wind by their own 'leafy stems') which, in this jewel, assumes an apotropaic nature.

Having said that, this handcrafted guinea-gold Opor-haath is of a character such that its appeal is universal and it suits everyone who's willing to give it a patient hearing where it presents its case in favour of the revival of a recherché ornament in a style that's timeless and a pulchritude which remains undimmed through generation after generation. Once you start your 'Family Jewels' collection, remember to include at least one opor-haath or armlet — if not the Agaliphul, something like it — for this is just the kind of goyna that's predestined to be an heirloom.

And so the Mantasha-loha came into being as a sturdy polished gold tube that branches out in opposite directions to support the trefoil tablet ‘mantasha’ in the middle, the spandrels thus formed allowing the tube and the branches to be further reinforced with a thick gold disc soldered to both.
The trefoil panel is bordered with a turned rope that protects the edges and defines the infill which, here, is a monsoon-rose bush in abundant bloom and with ample foliage. Painstakingly chased by hand and then pierced to create those crucial voids, the naksha brings to life the sheer ecstasy of a revered plant in the full glory of its fecundity.

Note how the curvy stems end in blooms of various sizes. It’s organic, the plant, and is more the palpable because of its ‘du-pora’ naksha which raises the relief to a tactility immensely pleasurable.
The motif of the flowering Srabon rose, its trefoil shape, and the all-over vermilion polish, all work towards making the loha a monumental jewel — far from the essentially utilitarian, even though symbolic (and rather subservient), role it performs in a society still give to patriarchal traditions.
The jewel conquers what started out as being perceived an absurd idea by turning out to be absurdly beautiful. It succeeds brilliantly as both a loha and a mantasha, and in doing so immediately becomes a paladin for handmade Bengal jewellery : the loha, after all, is a quintessentially Bengali goyna.

Mrs.Srabanti Sarkar was happy her jewel was realised in just the manner she’d wanted. In her own words, “I love A.Sirkar jewellery because I like our traditional values. I think A.Sirkar is a master of traditional ornaments so I chose them to order my pola and special loha-cum-mantasha, and was able to order my customised classic mantasha piece quite easily.
Salesperson Rakhi is a very humble and helpful lady ; accordingly, I received with full satisfaction my bespoke classic jewellery. I am very happy with their service and will visit again soon.”

On our part, we’re humbled. It was not in our place to doubt the capacity of an enlightened client to conjure up a jewel that didn’t exist. That is the sum and substance of creativity : to be able to see what’s not there and complete the incompleteness with an innovation or invention of unequivocal beauty.
As such, we’re honoured to have been given the responsibility of designing and bringing to life her dream jewel. And we’re honoured further to name it after her.

In this rather monumental cuff, the mangoes seem identical in their continuous march but are not so on close inspection. One finds in its womb a lotus from which springs a leafy seedling while the other has a split mango that births a similar plant. In between is placed a sprig of bel-buds and two trifoliate clusters from the bel-tree. The aam-kalka, outlined in a chased rope, extends beyond the neck of the mango and curls into itself in a chhela glow.

Note how the leaves are detailed, alternatingly pinnate and of flat venation. The lotus is all-chhela and the split mangoes are what they are, grooved and faceted. While the flower alludes to the celestial, the split mangoes speak the language of fertility, which is what the mother aam-kalkas do as well.

Bordered with a continuous line of mini-paisleys and then the topa beading which forms the outer bezel, this naksha aam-kalka cuff is sui generis for certain. An ambitious young lady ordered it as her bespoke jewel not to mark anything but just to indulge her penchant for buying gold, in the form of ornaments. This cuff, hinged for ease of wear, is her debut order with us.

After her MBA from Edinburgh University (with the complete support of her husband as she was married by then), Sreoshi became an entrepreneur, and soon enough a hotelier par excellence. Her long-awaited child, son Shreyansh, whose name denotes that he’s a part of Sreoshi, will have a lot to learn from his spirited mother, and draw on her extraordinary vim and drive as he grows up. As for the cuff’s name : in keeping with tradition, it’s been christened ‘Sreoshi’.

The march of the mangoes, infinite here, is laden with a certain rustic charm. Hand crafted, hand-chased, hand-chhela, the aam-kalkas combine to create a monumental but serene design that not only takes upon itself the task of making you immortal but also proves to be a sincere allegory of woman as the primary creative force of this world.

The strung seed-pearl edging on both sides of the choor brackets the stepped ball-and-kamal-chain border which in turn frames the central panel that comprises directionally opposed cordate fan-heads placed in a series. Each of these paan-shaped motifs is painstakingly wrought with pak-tar, ball, bits of cloisonné enamelling, and rejis combined into neat and clean detailing that forms the exquisite open-work.

While you won’t know this seeing the jewel, these details do refer the necklace but are deliberately varied to allow the choor its individuality — that which it has oodles of.
Hinged, for ease of wear, you’ll find a gap in the pearl stringing (look at the edge, top right) which is necessary for the cuff to open smoothly. That’s where the pin is. When wearing the ornament, you’ll have to remember to turn that part to the inside of your wrist.

That’s a lot about the design and workmanship of the jewel. Its preciousness — beyond the asset value assigned to it as an article of personal adornment made of a freely traded noble metal — and the manner in which it becomes lovelier over time, is your responsibility. There’s no doubt about the fact that the choor, just like you, is ageless and will always retain its beauty, but the soul of the jewel is for you to define. It'll speak to you, as it will to generations after, and each of its custodians will experience its historicity and add to it in their own way, infusing into its hand-wrought guinea-gold heart their own bright spirit. Over time, as a cherished heirloom, it'll bear upon itself, with grace and quiet elegance, your immortality.

We've respected its provenance while slightly varying the name. The Pankha Choor is drawn from the Punkah necklace, of 2014 vintage, and owes its design and detailing, somewhat, to that ornament. By character, of course, it stands on its own, though fully possessed of the grandeur and regality of its source jewel. Such goyna, in essence, can’t help but be eternal and, in the ecstasy of its creation, make its wearer eternal too.

This latter penchant too was taken into consideration while detailing the kankan which, as you can see, is finished with dark vermilion highlights that make it seem an aged ornament which, over the years, having been worn at various auspicious occasions, has accumulated arbitrary flecks of sindoor and the lampblack of collyrium.

The arrangement is simple but powerful: a series of kajal-lata heads are arranged around the polished base, their distinctive pradip shape accentuated by a ball-karai finial on each. A punched sasa-dana is placed in the centre of every pradip with deep-cut rays emanating from it, transforming it into the all-seeing eye that protects the wearer from evil influences and encounters.

The rays around this ‘eye’ are hand engraved, and each of the kajal-lata heads has been cut out manually, scraped and filed to shape, and then fitted with a slim bezel (invisible unless you turn the kankan on its side and peer into the voids between the pradips) to reinforce them, just as the ‘peti’ at the bottom is essential to the ornament’s structure and the finials extend and strengthen the jewel.

An astonishing rusticity pervades the kankan, as if this were an ancient jewel. It seems to have a power the transference of which to the wearer takes place the moment the hinges are screwed in place. It’s the power of femininity, in gold, evident in each of the dexterously hand-wrought parts of the ornament and their significance. The kohl, the vermilion, the magic eye, the ‘bindi’ of the finial —— they’re all there, every one of them a compelling synecdoche of our muliebrity and, together, a declaration, simple and forceful, of our self-determination.

With impassioned guinea-gold craftsmanship where every emotion at play instead of being given overt expression is "used for the creation of significant form", as Tagore decreed the purpose of art (refer last Tuesday's Rabindra Jayanti post) to be, and a stripped-away aesthetic that leaves the jewel pure and unaffected, Priyankakon stands unique in the fine jewellery firmament and becomes an iconic goyna in its resolutely unostentatious but wholly authentic celebration of womanhood.

The form is that of an elongated tablet and just like those hoary stone things this could also be used to contain nomothetic inscriptions. A naksha frieze, however, seems a more delightful option, and you can well let your imagination roam towards a pattern that means something to you and which you might want to use as the infill to perpetuate that feeling, memory, or sentiment.

We’ve used a pierced-naksha vine — rich and leafy, with a fully bloomed zinnia in the middle and two budding ones at the top corners — as the panel that decorates the tablet. It’s a bit of a cheat, actually, because the idea was to create something simple and beautiful that would pair well with any ornament, chased or otherwise, and also be a remarkable jewel in itself. That way, it’s more universal. There’s reinvention here, too, for the unbent Zinnia plant has been magically transformed into a curvy creeper.

You don’t have to adhere to this detailing, but you’re most welcome to it. We’ll, otherwise, create something with you that’ll be all your own —— a vital part of your universe as a ring. Be that as it may, what we should avoid is the jewel becoming toplofty and crass, or being categorised as a ‘cocktail ring’ — which it isn’t. It’s merely a reminder that your favourite thoughts could be invested in a jewel that need not be a necklace or a cuff or, for that matter, any kind of earring.

The form’s unique anyway ; all that’s left is to articulate your wishes in guinea-gold as the tablet infill. The notched-naksha surround and ball border should remain. They add definition to the frieze and pull the tablet out of its heavy history into the world of decorative art where, naturally, it becomes an instant classic.

Think about it : a bespoke Tablet Ring of universal beauty that reveals your thoughts in pure guinea-gold —— only to you.

It’s opportune too that Mrs.Bhowmick should elect gardening as her hobby and possess a passion for travel. With a Masters in Geography, she’d certainly know her way around the world.

Our honour then that she chose us for her wedding parure which comprised the Bichitra necklace, its matched earrings, and an altogether new (but also matched) choor which is what we feature here today.

Mrs. Bhowmick’s eponymous jewel — it has, naturally, been named after her — is a flower and fruit extravaganza prevented from descending into kitsch by moderating the arrangement to simple running garlands of neem-chameli phul bordering the topsy-turvy perforated-katai mangoes in the centre. The aanshphal, as pierced pearls, sparely intersperse the petite four-petalled blossoms, and all of it’s framed by a line of chhela-topas on each side.

That completes almost every element of Bichitra, and a more neat and synergistic hand ornament you’d be hard put to find. That said, matched as it may be to the necklace-earring set, the choor, despite its disciplined style, is very attractive, and distinct enough of personality to be worn as an independent jewel.

The idea of bespoke is to make for you fine jewellery that not only addresses your aesthetic needs but as well your emotional investment in gold as an extension of your character and the repository of your thoughts, feelings and sentiments.

In no time, Mrs.Bhowmick will come into her own as a powerful self-sufficient woman. Her meticulously handcrafted guinea-gold goyna, especially the Anindita choor, will be the heirlooms that'll contribute, in their own radiant way, to her immortality.

After the Golap Bagh Ananta, the Gulbahar Hansuli, and the Golap Phul Pata Choor (from exactly six years ago) comes this variation of the rose vine in pronounced bas-relief that helps enunciate, in...

After the Golap Bagh Ananta, the Gulbahar Hansuli, and the Golap Phul Pata Choor (from exactly six years ago) comes this variation of the rose vine in pronounced bas-relief that helps enunciate, in the lustrous language of pure guinea-gold, the leaves, stems and flowers with which this recherché ornament is composed.
The naksha, needless to say, is exquisite, but what makes it arresting is the painstaking manner in which the gold’s pierced using a miniature chisel and hammer so that the surface surrounding the vine’s anfractuous journey across the jewel is perforated and you see through it. What this does is make the chased pattern stand out further and also ensures, because of the absence of light reflecting off metal in the pierced sections, that the Golap-Phul-Pata appears in contrast to its base. Imagine a black cashmere full-sleeve pullover with the jewel worn over it, around your wrist, and you’ll get an idea of how dramatic the perforations make it look. A glimpse of the back (a lot’s visible around the hinge where the pin’s crown can be seen), enlarged, will assist in knowing closely the pierced-naksha and as well the quality of workmanship. How immaculate the hand-chasing is is proven, too, by the underside.

How, then, is this different from the choor of the same name? It’s not. It’s the identical motif turned into a Bouti where the central panel runs as a frieze all the way round but now as an arciform section, meaning it’s heavily curved outwards. It’s an altogether different ornament, more sculptural and, therefore, monumental.
No detail, however grand the Bouti may be, is compromised. You’ll see the engravings on the rose petals, the leaves are dutifully notched and veined, and even the buds are finely articulated. The chhela-topa beading frames the vine, and the rich natural polish allows the jewel to stay ageless gracefully, on its own, a patina of sweet memories and irrefrangible sentiments coating it over time just as time lays upon our soul the varicoloured shawl of life’s revelatory experiences.

After a while, to separate yourself from this jewel will be impossible. You needn’t try. By then, you’ll have become immortal.

Location: Calcutta

Provenance : Bishangarh, property of Prince Husayn ; original silk carpet, later — by means of advanced textile technology and traditional alchemy — converted into a portable, wearable one-of-a-kind ring.

Note : Comes with maintenance guidelines, lifetime service guarantee, and the secret command that makes the pearl-encrusted guinea-gold carpet of the ring transform into a life-size flying rug to indulge your flights of fantasy.

Contact : Interested parties may get in touch with A.Sirkar Jewellers for viewing the actual jewel.

Caution : The ring, outrageously barococo as it is magnificent of manufacture and design, promises to transport viewers and wearer alike to a ritzy exotic world as none other —- with their feet firmly planted on the ground. Those with intent of acquiring it must be well disposed towards the very notion of free and fancy flight of the individual self in all dimensions of both the intra- and extramundane world.

The story of Indra's concealment in a lotus, twice, and subsequently his garland of penance made entirely of lotuses picked from an earthly pond, lends itself to this rare Mantasha - Ratan Choor wh...

The story of Indra's concealment in a lotus, twice, and subsequently his garland of penance made entirely of lotuses picked from an earthly pond, lends itself to this rare Mantasha - Ratan Choor which can be worn separately as a ring, a mantasha, and a small choker. They're all fastened securely and when worn together belie the fact that they're detachable.

But first, let us admit this to be an aberration of a jewel in the sense that we didn't stick to specifications, here. The order was for the Chena-Achena Mantasha (of May,2017 vintage) selected from our Instagram page. Besides the pasha in the middle, nothing's similar to that design, and the pasha too has pearl embellishments on it, as desired. The extension that makes the mantasha a ratan-choor uses strung pearls bordering the kamal chain and a solitary pearl right in the centre of the flower, and this latter feature is repeated in the dhakai-pasha cocktail ring. In both of these medallions you'll also note a double-ekka filigree row that adds a lightness to the jewel and rests the eye from the strong naksha.

From San Francisco came this commission as a part of an extensive wedding trousseau comprising many different ornaments for the neck and hand and head. Here's the young lady who chose them for herself — on the occasion of her social wedding here in Bengal after an almost three-year delay due to the pestilence —introducing herself to you :

"I am Oindrila Gupta, a Senior Software Engineer based in San Francisco. I work on safe and efficient routing and traffic prediction algorithms using massive sets of real-time geolocation data that power mobile and automobile navigation including EVs (electric vehicles) and driverless/self-driving vehicles.I love art and crafts and as such I spend most of my free time designing focusing on both aesthetics and utility — be it apparel, houses (interior as well as architectural), jewellery, accessories or software. I am also an avid reader, global history and culture enthusiast, travel aficionado and enjoy mind exercising activities like solving puzzles.

I grew up in the beautiful and quaint town of Chandannagar by the Ganges river where I did my schooling at St. Joseph’s Convent."

Oindrila selected all her jewellery online and placed the order months back when she came to see her mother (and put together some of her jewels that she wanted to exchange) so that they'd be ready by the time she landed in Calcutta for her wedding. She's a first-time customer and this is what she had to say regarding choosing us for her precious biyer goyna :

"A.Sirkar, because of the bespoke and authentic ‘shabeki’ jewelry designs which go in tandem with my Vedic wedding theme of ‘puronotun’ (purono-notun) as coined by our priestess, Dr Rohini Dharmapal. Also, the ability to customize each piece of jewelry helped me realize my lifelong dream of being able to design my own wedding jewelry. My heartfelt gratitude to Brinda Di, Soma Di and the entire team for making my dream come true."

Well, our heartfelt gratitude to her as well for selecting us for her bespoke jewellery and allowing us the lenience to evolve designs that would be both original and timeless and would capture in them the very essence of her. You've seen a few over the past weeks, but where we went against the grain was with this Mantasha - Ratan Choor that we redesigned completely to be more relevant to its owner-custodian.

The lotus within a lotus within a lotus becomes the ruling motif and is realised in chaste naksha with the flower's expressionistic petals radiating out from the central pasha powerfully. Corner details aside, the petals cover the entire mantasha and are wrought in stepped-relief to make the padma palpable. With calibrated perforations outside the flower, the lotus is what leaps to the eye — all of it, with the smaller pearl-studded bloom inside, and the one within that which is also set with a single pearl. A notched naksha frame bounds the motif and ball borders further define it.

The Dhakai-pasha ring draws from the central roundel of the mantasha and its core becomes the centrepiece of the little choker that connects the mantasha to the ring.The filigree openwork in both of these is a touch of whimsy but also a relief from all the solid surfaces.

The lotus, in the way it's inextricably linked to Indra, is the overarching feature of this unique jewel that we've named in Oindrila's honour.

Handmade with great thought and care in vermilion-finished guinea-gold, the qualities of independence, individualism, and sheer force of will that Oindrila so embodies, we hope is exuded by this ornament in all its monumental beauty. The queen of the heavens, and of earth, deserves no less.

The jewel we showcase today is a case in point. As you see it, what it appears to be is a Ratan-choor. Made in a combination of filigree (the borders and sides, respectively, of the central plaque and the two ziggurats alongside), pierced naksha (all the flowers), and chain-work (for the bracelet and the couplings of the ring and central panel), the jewel shines in its simplicity and neatness without compromising one bit on its decorative aspect.

The central panel is hinged for flexibility (your fingers need to be able to fold easily) and is repeated, without hinges, as the elaborate ring that covers nearly three fingers. Both are set and strung with pearls, and this affords the Ratan-choor a remarkable visibility, the pearls acting in contrast as a terrific framing device.

And the monastic kamal-ball bracelet? It needed to be so, so that it may be worn as an everyday goyna.

Look closely now, and you’ll notice two more jewels (besides the bracelet) in one. A charming little choker and a ring. That brings the tally to three. It’s a three-in-one jewel, the newest addition to our Convertibles Collection.

This was a stand-alone order. Bespoke, for certain. Detailed just as intricately as any other jewel of much greater avoirdupois, and involving the same amount (if not more!) of time and effort that we gladly gave to make a young lady’s dream come true.

To reiterate, small can certainly be monumental. The truth and beauty of any original creation that’s been given its due by its makers does not stand upon its monetary worth. Art is never about material or medium alone. Most of what qualifies as genuine art is made of thought. Thought — that priceless little thing we all are blessed with but only a precious few (among them, all you who are on this page) put to good use.

If you have something in mind, don’t dither thinking about whether you should approach us or not just because the ornament you have in mind is small. The goyna may be small. Our thoughts are not. Let’s put our heart and mind into creating timeless little gems such as this. Even if it’s something for the nose you think you might want specially designed for you, just call or write in with your dream. To make it real is our responsibility.

The commissioning of this bracelet, colloquially referred to as 'Kharhu', had a lot to do with the Grinling Gendaphul Hansuli which was the main jewel of a wedding parure of which this was the matched handsware. The clients, resident in Delhi, were first-time customers and while the necklace was of an established design, the cuff was bespoke, and a goyna considered important enough to be not just an accessory but an independent jewel that could be worn sans the set it was matched to.

Studded sparingly but arrestingly with single alternating corals and pearls in the centre of the triple-stack marigolds that hold centre-stage among the swirling arabesque of foliage, the mildly curved band in the middle — generous enough in width to be equal to that of two standard choors lain side by side — forms a fantastical frieze of flora realised in intricate pierced naksha. Notice though, the framing of this band : a chased rope, a line of simple ball beads, and then a sudden and slim bevel that leads to the traditional thokai-pradip ball-topped kankans at both ends that act as flanges at the wide openings of the ornament. These guard-bangles add dimension and drama to the choor, bestow upon it distinction without any digression of design aesthetics, and do provide the vital function of extension and protection of the chased frieze they bookend though all the while ensuring they don't distract in any way from the Grinling Gibbons-inspired primary perforated pattern.

We took two extra months to get it right, which is, of course, a euphemistic way of saying we were late by two months. During the course of this delay the choor was done and undone several times : once because the relief wasn't satisfactory on the naksha ; then due to the bevel not being shaped properly ; the kankans had to be articulated more subtly than originally planned ; and, of course, the critical placement of the hinge and pin-finding ended up being an elongated debate unto itself. Finally, and that was the last straw, the weight of the ornament exceeded the planned weight significantly. Natheless, the customers loved the jewel, and delivery was effected on the first day of this year's Pujas.

Not just a handcrafted guinea-gold prothalamion, this 'Kharhu' of vernacular African form, but an immediate heirloom right from the moment it's brought home and worn. Indeed, Sridisha is a jewel of great virtues, yet cannot ever compare, in terms of such virtues, to those of the young lady from Delhi after whom it's been named. We thank her profusely for allowing us the opportunity to create a recherché jewel such as this for her, just as we thank all you who put your faith in us to make you immortal in gold, despite our tardiness and our inept discipline and our plenipotent perfectionism that borders on the manic. Choose us when, and if, you can forgive us.

So much has been said about separating the art from the artist that we must call upon that advice now to confess : Yes, we are deeply flawed, but the jewels we make as our votive offering to you are flawless of character and spirit. Our communication may be limited and awkward but our goyna will unequivocally serve as invaluable and enduring intergenerational communication of the most beauteous kind.

Our jewellery is meant to outlive us but while doing so makes us eternal.

We’ve brought together flowers of all kinds, from different plac...

We’ve brought together flowers of all kinds, from different places, and of varied character, and shaped the vessel as nature would — with sincerity and love that knows no bounds — in pure guinea gold. We’ve moored it strongly with an even dozen of plain-bichha hawsers for the tides and sands of time — ever changing, ever shifting — may otherwise cast it adrift prematurely and without the welcome of the vast ocean into which one day we shall all, as offerings to the heavens above, set float our life’s work. With pearls of wisdom we’ve picked from your thoughts our humble boat of flowers is embellished, a boat painstakingly chased with bare hands and with every beat of our heart poured into its wild and wayward naksha that’s still an arrangement though there’s no order to it, that’s still of everlasting beauty though there’s nary a contemplation of pulchritude in its gathering, that’s still rich though the splendid poverty of its dishabille is in full and complete evidence in its creation.

It’s you who will set sail our Pushpa-Tori for it’s none but you — the only deity we know — for whom it has been wrought. From the very depth of our soul are we grateful to you for granting us the life supreme. Your coruscating beauty surrounds us : beauty such that only immaculate truth can reveal. We celebrate your divine presence in gold. Take our votive boat of flowers and make of it a bracelet, if you will. And remember always our servant heart, for it remains in your worship even when it’s stilled.

What's of great interest here is the obvious avoirdupois of these jewels. They're undeniably monumental ornaments the weight and volume of which greatly surpass that of their matched neckwear and earrings. This could well indicate a radical shift in the culture of wearing precious metal jewellery where a single hand-ornament is valued (in terms of its weight and price) much higher than the demi-parure it accompanies. Of course, it need be stated here that choors do remarkably well with western attire, be it a gown or pantsuit or even a jeans-and-jersey combination, and they're quite happy being the toast of the town whenever they're displayed on person.

Here too, in both cases, the choors are far more elaborate than their original pendants/ necklaces, and both can be worn independent of their sets. Engaging, visually stunning, and delightful in their intricate perforated naksha detailing, the Anganpriya and Vishoka Choors are magnificent jewels in their own right, even if they've been created out of some other ornament which they're supposed to match. There's 'heirloom' written all over them but that, mind you, will depend as well on the kind of care they are imparted, and whether or not, over time, the love they give you is genuinely reciprocated.

The Lokkho-Tara bala is eons old and not in the least old as well. Classic jewellery never ages ; with time they become timeless and the virtues they’re born with become intrinsic to their characte...

The Lokkho-Tara bala is eons old and not in the least old as well. Classic jewellery never ages ; with time they become timeless and the virtues they’re born with become intrinsic to their character and impart to them the undiminishing glow of beauty and truth and wisdom. 

Imagine a stalk of bamboo sliced in half and somehow bent into a circle. The inside, a concave tube, is gilded but left dull so that light isn’t reflected back. Then, a thickly twined net, from a megh-tori, is cast into the sea of night to catch a whole cluster of twinkling stars. Using the net, the scattered stars are woven into a garland and placed across the gilded half-tube, securing it with invisible solders. Finally, a gentle hand-polish brings out its natural yellow glow. 

There! Now you have your Lokkho-Tara Bala. Simple and easy, isn’t it? –– yet one of the most difficult jewels to get right.

Immaculate as this sample is, just to weave the mesh needs specially honed skills for its spacings and voids have to be even or else the topas (as stars) will lose their positions and become haphazard, as real stars usually are. But these are gold stars, and the net is handmade, and takes the form of an ornament. That cannot be untidy, unless it’s some kind of avant-garde art jewellery — and this, by a long shot, isn’t.

There are shortcuts to making this bala but, in all honesty, none of those would cut ice with us. The pure way — with the entire mala for the bala — is the only one we know. It best serves your interest to choose no other workmanship but this, not just because its the traditional method but also because of the effect of the bala in this karigari against the faster ones where only half the 'jaal' is made and stuck to the 'peti'.

You'll know the difference when you enlarge the bala we've showcased and focus on what's within the jaal-karai. You'll see there the same net, just the underside of it. It turns fully, resting above the half-tube (peti) which becomes all but invisible. What you're left with is essentially a netted garland of stars wound around your wrist. The result is quite celestial.       

A Lokkho-Tara bala takes courage to make, and even more courage to make as a mala for a bala. Traditional guinea gold jewel-craft of the virtuoso kind has enshrined a whole private galaxy for you on a simple hinged bala (it’s a ruli, actually, but ‘bala’, here, sound so much nicer) that crafts its own magic, its own aura, and its own coruscating beauty. The choice is yours to own it.

When you're designing for a fiercely disciplined young CA professional (she's with ITC Limited) whose leanings towards 'sabeki' goyna is reflected in her love for all things classic, and when you'r...

When you're designing for a fiercely disciplined young CA professional (she's with ITC Limited) whose leanings towards 'sabeki' goyna is reflected in her love for all things classic, and when you're tasked with making a complete parure where none of the constituent jewels are matched but all are in perfect harmony when worn together, you know you have a challenge, albeit one steeped in grandeur and subtlety such that both must be held in equipoise in every ornament as also in the form, structure, volume and detailing of each.  

From amongst them — a choker, har, kankan, bala, choor — we've chosen the kankan for not only its increasing rarity these days but also because this one's got a splendid secret to it that's clearly on view but apparent only to those who'd care to look closely and then closely enough to be able to fall in love with the jewel.

But first, a brief reflection on its artistry :  Remember the 'pokrano-tar' we've earlier several times mentioned to you? — the process of rubbing round guinea-gold wires with a triangular file against the grooves of used 78rpm records to crimp the gold which is then flattened to form corrugated- or 'pokrano-tar' that's defined by its serrated edges, leading to a roughness of filigree (in which such wires are used) that feels more primal. It's like a street-credo technique used in creating classic opera with an edge to it, or, more easily, hip-hop being employed in musical theatre to narrate a little-known-but-significant story where it's fused with grand themes and music to pull off the impossible — a monumental extravaganza that reaches socio-political history to the people via popular entertainment. Witness 'Hamilton'. 

Well, this may not be the Hamilton of kankans, but on the basis of its use of pakrano-tar with delicacy such that the single-wire open-work has an almost gossamer lightness of being, it certainly can be counted as a supremely virtuous example of the classic jewel as it has evolved into the 21st century. 

Magnify the goyna if you will and you'll notice how deftly the hinges are incorporated in the wire-work, with an almost indiscernible break in the patterning. Also of note is the arrangement of spheres on the top edge of the kankan where you'll see a third ball (with a single karai finial on each) balancing between two contiguous ones fixed to the body of the jewel. It looks risky, that detail, but is actually soldered to the fixed orbs and lends the kankan's profile a marvellous sharpness that works brilliantly as a counterpoint to the airy filigree. It also strengthens the jewel and makes it richer volume-wise. 

But the bigger secret lies elsewhere. Those with a keen eye for the aesthetic will seek it out forthwith, especially with a reasonable zoom-in. It's the reason why you fall in love with the kankan at first sight. It's why we all fall in love with anyone anyway — because we look deeper, right into the heart of things where true beauty resides. With regard to Rajrupa — named after the enduringly lovely Ms.Rajrupa Bose (to whom we are eternally grateful for selecting us), and fittingly too for the kankan has a quiet regality about it — the secret of its gorgeousness and charm dwells along the lines of what it shows us and what we see. 

We'd be delighted to have you reveal its secret in your comments. Please, please do.

The double blossoms aren't graduated in this ornate cuff that's designed to match the Grinling Gendaphul Hansuli of December 2018 vintage because they needn't be — the choor doesn't taper.

Th...

The double blossoms aren't graduated in this ornate cuff that's designed to match the Grinling Gendaphul Hansuli of December 2018 vintage because they needn't be — the choor doesn't taper.

The pierced naksha is as exquisite as in the neckpiece but more intricate simply because there's more ground for the foliage to cover. The same seasoned hands that chased the Hansuli have shaped the anfractuous vines, the arabesque of their leaves, and the larger-than-life two-tiered gendaphul — all in distinct bas relief — so that the provenance of both jewels can be traced back to the same virtuoso artisan, using the same tools with the same timing and the same strength needed to coax a single sheet of gold into a remarkable work of art that must function as the jewel of a gentle lady whose natural beauty it graces and whose inner beauty it makes evident to all. 

The pierced naksha can qualify as exemplary in this choor in which the hinge is barely visible, so seamless is its integration into the scroll-work, and any comparison to "the loose and airy lightness of flowers" of the wood carvings of Grinling Gibbons would hardly be misplaced seeing as to how delicate, intricate and perfectly realised the foliage is and how dramatic the flowers that rest upon it. Everything's palpable in this jewel and, like a painting, the central panel is bordered by a chased twine and two contiguous rows of ball-beading that effectively act as a frame for the rich naksha. 

You know how there's no room for error in the creation of this choor — it has to be done right, albeit in a slow and considered way, or not done at all or re-done over and over again till it turns out the jewel it's destined to be. While it may not be the original ornament of the parure, it stands on its own as a goyna of great and monumental character that by its virtuous splendour establishes its immortality and secures the same for its owner. 

The kismet of the Grinling Gendaphul Choor is to be a much-loved heirloom that bestows upon its wearer-owner-custodian an unequivocal peace. The vernacular of Bengal jewel-craft, so vital to the soul of this meticulously handcrafted guinea gold jewel, is for all to see and fill their senses with. Those who've sworn off precious jewellery or to whom it has ceased to be meaningful must prepare to fall in love again — with themselves and with timeless jewels such as this that not only epitomise who they are but embody their very spirit in their recherché craftsmanship.

After all, who resists immortality?

The most valued minakari work of our country deservingly comes from Jaipur. And unbelievably beautiful as it may be, imagine such art on the back of ornaments the ‘right side’ of which have traditi...

The most valued minakari work of our country deservingly comes from Jaipur. And unbelievably beautiful as it may be, imagine such art on the back of ornaments the ‘right side’ of which have traditional kundan settings on them. That’s regal India for you :  uncompromising loveliness in art and craft, down to the last detail, and more.The intricacy of the mina is well known to you, and since it’s all engraved and then filled with colours, the process is the purest form of champlevé there could ever be. 

These bangles from Bengal are also classic champlevé, but instead of engravings we have here a stamping of the pattern that’s rounded and fused to the polished section to form the top of the choori and finally enamelled, the various colours needing to be fired separately since each hardens at a different temperature. And what terrific colours they are! — black, Capri blue, a creamy pink, and white on the dotting. Called ‘shaan mina’ in Bengal, the name derives from the fact that after the liquefied colours have been fired, the mina is filed to settle it and then smoothened with pumice stone. Because of the repoussé patterns, the ridges and reliefs appear clearly. Which part to enamel is a choice you get to make after you’ve selected the stamping motifs. 

On this pair, the flower and its decorative leaves (they could also be butterflies) are dramatically set against a black background while the tiny studs on the gold section between each panel are detailed in white. The centre of the flower is also white. Alternating the polished half-pipe with the mina triptychs heightens the contrast and makes the ornament stand out, but you could have all-over enamelling too if you’d like but then very little gold would show and the mina-sona contrast would go missing. 

In truth, this doesn’t hold a candle to the Jaipuri-style minakari, even though they’re both champlevé. If that comparison is ignored, this is virtuous as well — an extraordinary art practiced to perfection by a few expert artisans. 

Technique aside, the chooris are truly eye-catching. Even more so because of the colour of the mina and the exacting finish. Two are enough. But there are more styles and we’ve sourced the original punches so you’ll never want for choice. That said, remember that the bangles go through three stellar crafting processes — stamping, the actual making of the choori, enamelling and polishing — each of which requires special skills and generous time, and so we request you to be generous with your time as well (You always are!). As for the colours :  we advise combinations far removed from the conventional. Kashmiri papier-mache or Japanese kimonos could provide inspiration. 

Also, there’s a certain romance intrinsic to champlevé that not only recalls more noble times but as well, because of its inherent elegance, evokes the sophistication of an era when restraint  was to love what refinement is to polite society. Such jewels used to be an indispensable part of a lady’s self-expression. 

Champlevé-enamelled bangles handcrafted in pure guinea-gold  to tell your side of the story and to kindle or rekindle love with whoever, in whatever way you want. 
No words need be spoken.

Wear these lohas if you’re happily married or think you’re soon going to be happily married. Or if you’re happily divorced or separated or widowed. Or if you’re going to firmly remain single. Or li...

Wear these lohas if you’re happily married or think you’re soon going to be happily married. Or if you’re happily divorced or separated or widowed. Or if you’re going to firmly remain single. Or live together in the conventional sense. Or if you’re polyamorous, non-binary, or simply undecided. In other words, all you need to be is independent to choose any of these jewels for yourself.

Taking the loha out of its socio-cultural construct as a symbol of the married Bengali woman without offending the guardians of patriarchal traditions is difficult. Many proclaim the loha to be of talismanic significance : a jewel that connotes the protection of the husband from ruinous cosmic forces, thereby ensuring his longevity. Surely the husband then must flaunt a similar ornament that ensures the long and healthy life of his wife. But no, the male wears no such symbolic jewel. And that too after it has been proven over and over again that a husband usually finds it very tough to cope after the passing of his wife while most women seem to recoup quickly and do well enough after their 'dear' husbands depart.

Anyway, as long as you’re making certain the values of the society we live in are enriched for the future, do what you feel. We feel lohas can be worn by all women. And men are welcome to them as well. Enough already! Here’s today’s quaternion of Noas, completely unexceptional, but also as far from ordinary as, say, true cane weaving is from the white plastic stuff.

Ball-Mukh Binuni Noa : You’ve seen this one before (that gold and iron plait is ubiquitous) though not with the traditional faceted ball-mukh with its extended neck in a criss-cross chhela. Besides, the model’s broader now and the wires thicker. And, by the way, those wires are mandatorily hand-drawn — a skill becoming rarer by the day.

Lakshmi Sree : A classic box-loha, this one’s on order, actually. The entire choori-like form is engraved with the auspicious paddy plant on top and a fine coursing of bricks along the sides. A medallion with Ma Lakhmi embossed on it is framed by a ring of chhela topas and placed bang in the centre.

The whole thing’s tottering on the verge of kitsch but is rescued by its simplicity of design. Of course, the choice of coin is yours : you could put a half-guinea there as well. And alter the engravings, or have none at all.

Warren Kankan Noa : The name refers to a kind of basic truss bridge that uses triangulated structures over its span to take heavy moving loads. Here, the triangles are embedded in the base and their tips are protected by single-orbs and a wire running through the top. The cutwork rewards the loha with lightness, attractiveness and a certain boldness that together translate to the jewel being wholly autotelic.

Chumu : Nothing’s left to be said. Imagine a Cubist kiss and you’ll see the interlocking squares (one chhela, the other frosted) come alive. This all-covered loha looks very modern but is quite timeless. Its plain-polished body with three bands on it acts as a suitable guide to the eyes in directing them to the energetic Chumu that’s wrought deftly using just two inseparable squares. This one’s for those adventurous enough to wear their passion on their sleeve.

The jury’ll be out for a while on these four Noas. They pass muster as ornaments of simple charm but whether they break the barriers of archaic custom is left entirely to your choice. Hand-wrought with due care and much attention to detail, these guinea-gold lohas are all marvellous to behold and wear. The wearer and the observer, then, guide their destiny. 

As reported in the Brighton Herald of 24th April, 1952 :  

The Kili Josiyam Ring Incident. 
A Tamil gentleman by the name of Bhagaba...

As reported in the Brighton Herald of 24th April, 1952 :  

The Kili Josiyam Ring Incident. 
A Tamil gentleman by the name of Bhagabalan Lebbai was found with a caged parrot at the Brighton Beach where he had built himself a temporary shelter advertising astrological marvels. The parrot was released from its cage at the behest of clients after the deposit of a mandatory fee of £2 per prediction. Mr.Lebbai did not offer any receipt for the sums paid. On release, the parrot would confidently strut across to a neat pile of envelopes, pick one out, and return to its handler. Mr.Lebbai would then reveal the contents of the envelope as the fortune of the client. 

Yesterday afternoon, Ms. Maureen Evans of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), dressed in a pink-on-purple polka-dotted swimsuit in the manner of a weekend tourist, pretended to be an interested client and visited the stall. Deputed by the RSPB to confiscate rare birds held in captivity, she approached Mr.Lebbai and apprehended him in the act and seized the caged parrot that turned out to be a rose-ringed parakeet of an exotic species called Kili found mostly in the Madras State, India. 

Later, at the John Street police station, Constable Edwin Millers asked Mr.Lebbai to demonstrate his calling as a ‘parrot astrologer’ which he did with Ms. Evans in attendance. The bird picked an envelope which was given to Ms. Evans. She read aloud the message on the card within :  YOU WILL LOVE AND MARRY A TALL, DARK PRINCE FROM THE EAST.  

Mr. Bhagabalan Lebbai then revealed himself to be Maniyarasan Chettiar, the only son of a powerful Tamil maharajah. His sole purpose in England was to find himself an English wife as had been foretold by the selfsame parakeet three months earlier. He was given the exact location by his court astrologer who also advised he travel incognito lest other interests impede his quest for a bride. On the S.S. Ranchi from Bombay to London, he had conveniently changed identities after facilitating the same with due emoluments to the onboard crew. 

At the Brighton Police Station, Mr.Lebbai/Chettiar offered a royal Kili Josiyam ring to Ms.Maureen Evans in proposal of marriage. Ms.Evans, rather taken in by the suddenness of it all, promptly and properly fainted into the arms of Constable Millers who in turn collapsed on the typist's chair that, with new-fangled wheels, swiftly careered into the interim office of Commissioner Sir John Carter who was visiting on holiday for the week. The matter rests with him now at the time of going to the Press. 

The Kili Josiyam Ring of the photograph is exquisitely handcrafted in pure guinea gold by a virtuoso artisan from Bengal, though Mughal influences are clear upon the form of the ornament. A perfectly chased parakeet with ruby eyes and pearl-encrusted floriated wings sits pleasurably on a ruby lotus atop a discal perch of filigreed petals ringed by polished orbs. The bird, it seems, possesses a certain divine wisdom. Its knowing visage and bright eyes hint at a prescience quite beyond human capability or comprehension. The magic of the east can easily be felt in this unique and splendiferous jewel.  

In the meantime we await the outcome of Prince Maniyarasan’s proposal to Ms. Maureen. The RSPB has been notified.

From my home to Freedom Park
is just that many miles of an epic
journey I make everyday to
<...

From my home to Freedom Park
is just that many miles of an epic
journey I make everyday to
feel the grass on the strangely
lawn–like banks of the Hooghly
curving through Phuleswar where
my mother is and I can be found
in spirit always and in person
twice a year with she who
carried me and birthed me
and fed me and clothed me
and taught me and made
me who I am in America
where I live, and in Bengal
where I breathe when I
come to see my parents whose
joyous tears gathered as
pearls (and with emeralds from
the verdure of the river bank) I
have consecrated with pure
guinea gold to create this timeless jewel
of pierced flowers and vines in a
pavé setting –– joroa : mukto-panna
–– as a personification of the
Phuleswar I visit twice a year
and that stays with me every
living moment of my life in
Charlotte where my philomathic
drift immerses me in
the beauty of words that
bridge the beauty between
then and now, east
and west, home and
home, river and river,
as the Catawba
flows into the Hooghly
I imagine, and
takes me with it
to a home
that’s home
beyond
home. 

 Zoom in. Enlarge it. Look closely at the valleys between the strands. What you'll find makes all the difference between a regular screw-pak bala and our this ruli in which precision naksha re...

 Zoom in. Enlarge it. Look closely at the valleys between the strands. What you'll find makes all the difference between a regular screw-pak bala and our this ruli in which precision naksha results in a twisting rope that forms itself into an endless circle.

Utterly simple of form, light by weight, and unassuming of character, the hollow centre of a pipe is filled with lac (gala, in Bengali), heated, and the tube worked into the rope pattern by patient chasing. The ruli's put to fire at least twice for the naksha to be realised in required relief and the result, as you can see, makes the dori or rope real to the touch. Except, there's no roughness. The strands are buffed to a satiny sheen.

But, returning to the opening point : Have you enlarged the photograph? Note the deep valley between the strands. What do you see? Can you make out a double-dotted line following the troughs? That's what's called "neat deoa" in Bengal gold-engravers' argot. Completely hand done using century-old tools (in this case a wood-and-iron bubble-handled buli), this minute engraving of a double-leaf pattern along the valleys ensures the light refracts differently there from the polished, rounded ridges, thereby making the troughs more distinct, or — in terms of how the eye perceives it — deeper than they actually are. You're not meant to notice this detail ; that's the brilliance of the superfine workmanship ; you just feel the rope more distinctly. And that's just how you'll experience the jewel.

Life's full of twists : pleasant; happy; terrible; surprising, in good and bad ways; and sometimes serendipitous. Tick off the last. This 'Neat' Rope Ruli, in all its elegant guinea-gold refulgence, is the one that'll always make the twists in your life serendipitous.

How we shape our destiny is upon us and, perhaps, ever so slightly, depends on that flighty aspect of chance. When we accept the unknown turns life is wont to take and are willing to face them, and allow them to transport us to places of no familiarity, an ornament such as this, embodying the simple infinite, becomes talismanic. It's not a tawdry good-luck geegaw but a nearly-monastic symbol of strength and fortitude — and one that personifies your extraordinariness in confronting all the challenges that life presents you with. Wear one, or a pair if you will, to affirm that. And remember, many may be those who as threads will tie their lives to yours, but you're the rope of solid gold : endless, unbroken, and of beauty bright.

Which Bengali doesn't fancy puti-maachh in Spring, though there are those who'll swear by the gravid little things through the rainy months of July to September, usually deep-fried. A year-round fa...

Which Bengali doesn't fancy puti-maachh in Spring, though there are those who'll swear by the gravid little things through the rainy months of July to September, usually deep-fried. A year-round favourite among fish-lovers, the peyanjkoli'r jhal is a superb answer to the warm days and chilly nights of Basanta in Bengal and adds to a rice lunch a dash of sweet pungency that fortifies us against the nippy evening air. It's nice to allow oneself a short nap after a bhaat and puti meal — somehow the fish induces happy sleep even though it's rice that runs off with the credit.

In summer, the puti-maachher tok becomes standard as does the chorchori and shorshe'r jhal. But it's only during spring-time that the fresh spring onions help make the fish stand out among many such chuno maach available in the markets.

In this light and neat jewel, a nitid row of katai kanak-puti maachh — the shimmering gold kind commonly found in the Padma river at Rajshahi — makes a strong and lustrous base on which to build the rest of the kankan. Separated by a single chhela wire, there's a row of plain topas and, right on top, holding the two tapered walls together, is a continuous line of polished orbs. That completes the jewel, but the whole thing's marred by the hinges because they were a bit of an afterthought that resulted in the mechanism not being elegantly located within the choor.The roughness of late inclusion of the 'kabja' shows.

Besides that, as a paean to chuno-puti maachh, the kankan works brilliantly well and is rather handsome, its fullness and confidence handcrafted in rich yellow 22K gold with patience, precision, and great honour. Also, it's as light as air, the katai open-work adding volume and delicacy but never any surplus weight.

It's a jewel of no discernible greatness but does require you to be a bon viveur of sorts. How else would you choose chuno-puti, preserve them in gold, and then wear them as a bangle of shona'r shutki.

The right term for this kind of jewel used to be "pin-choor" because the chains would be fastened at the back to a regular hinge, one set to the 'pin' or 'screw pyench' and the other to the threade...

The right term for this kind of jewel used to be "pin-choor" because the chains would be fastened at the back to a regular hinge, one set to the 'pin' or 'screw pyench' and the other to the threaded pipe. This, necessarily, made the hinge rather unwieldy, and closing it a task that needed patience and dexterity, considering the 'pin' and 'pipe' were of the same length as the choor. Much later came this simple system of bringing the chains together and then attaching them with adjustable rings and a hook. It's clean and efficient, even if the choor bends more towards a mantasha and the chains are shorn of any decoration.

A single diamond is what's the centre of attention here, and a combination of twisted-wire filigree and ring-rejis framed by a thick solid gold band with applied wires makes it evident. There's a spattering of katai too, also as diamonds, in trefoil motifs at each corner of the mantasha but as single pieces that reinforce the diamond motif from outside in till, finally, one single katai diamond rests right in the middle — in the heart, so to say — of the jewel. Rows of ring-rejis, ekka-tar and telephones explode out of the central diamond, creating a force field around it, and the open-work succeeds magnificently in producing a spectacular ornament which adds to its glamour the advantages of lightness and coverage.

Wrought meticulously by hand in rich yellow guinea gold by one of our stellar filigree artisans, this mantasha can only be a trump card, an ace : the Ace of Diamonds. Or, as we'd say in Bengali, the Ruitan-er Tekka. 

The end of yet another year is nigh and while contemplating the disappearance of time in a time of catastrophe, we must leave you, as a fitting finale to a flagitious year, an ornament not to remem...

The end of yet another year is nigh and while contemplating the disappearance of time in a time of catastrophe, we must leave you, as a fitting finale to a flagitious year, an ornament not to remember 2021 by but to instead forget and forgive its faults and failings.

This cuff, in a rare convex edge-to-edge form, is embellished with a magical vine on which you'll find innumerable flowers, some familiar — like the rose and night jasmine — and others, such as the climbing magnolia, of rarer lineage. Each blossom, every one of the various kinds of leaves, and as well the fragrant Kolimara inflorescence, realised as sprays of seed pearls, are hand-wrought in the difficult but deeply satisfying tol-parh cut-work method.

The ornament took months to be readied and was sent to be re-worked thrice by the final inspection team of our production department on grounds of dissatisfactory finish. Even as we write this, the bracelet has been taken by the artisan to file and smoothen the tops of the wires the pearls are strung with — they were catching fabric.

Note the engravings on the leaves and some flowers and you'll find how palpable the vascular maps on them are. Also, the vine's wholly organic ; its articulation as it meanders across the jewel is completely free of thought and measure. As such, the flowers bloom arbitrarily and, as you wear the bracelet more often, make it an ever-changing canvas of guinea-gold and precious stones.

This is the kind of jewel that's ageless but ages beautifully. Through the years, it'll acquire a natural patina and become delightfully duller and more characterful. As for the owner, Mrs.Sujata Shah, after whom the bracelet is named, she'll remain immortal through her recherché jewel. Mrs. Shah is an alumnus of the North Bengal Medical College who loves reading books, listening to music, and dabbling in fashion. It's been an honour serving her.

She expresses her relationship with us in her own words:

"I really like A.Sirkar because they carve out traditional looks on modern jewellery."

The 'Sahasra' indicates a renewal, and hints at a congregation or a conglomerate of flowers to welcome the new year — a wild bouquet of sorts made from local blossoms. And Sujata is Sujata.

Those hell bent on obliterating the past to build a future are fools. You don’t need to wipe out what has come before to create something, or anything, new. In fact, you can’t. The sum and substanc...

Those hell bent on obliterating the past to build a future are fools. You don’t need to wipe out what has come before to create something, or anything, new. In fact, you can’t. The sum and substance of heritage has to do with the past, and good traditions are always rooted in history.

Our responsibility remains not to edit glory but to add to it. It’s for us, as it is for every generation, to create new heritage and fresh traditions.

Which brings us to the Kadamphul Ruli which, as you will have guessed, is drawn from the legendary Chiro Kadamphul Har and is matched to it. If we go back in time, this wasn’t an ornament conceived with the har, no. It came much later as matching handswear to what, essentially, was a regal mala, the romance of which (refer our post of 25th August, 2019 on the Chiro Kadamphul Har) was subdued by the household rituals, family occasions and religious ceremonies, homely but elaborate, that it eventually became subservient to. That should not have been the case. Why should romance give way to ritual? It’s time for us to reclaim that space, that virtue, for this jewel, modelled as it is on the utterly amorous character of floral jewellery, especially those made of the real kadamphul.

The construct is identical : a tiny spring resting on a circular, beaten wire with a faceted reji in the centre forms each kadamphul. The flowers are individually wrought by hand — a delicate technique practiced over nearly half a century by the karigar concerned. After all the flowers are made, they are then woven together with repousse braids and the whole garland placed on a polished half-pipe base that acts as a bed for the mala. This one includes a hinge.

There’s need for caution, here. This bala — or ruli, to be precise –– is no ordinary jewel. Symbolic of the floral garlands and jewellery worn on the first night of a Bengali wedding, this quintessential Phool-Sajja’r goyna has never really been considered in its true romantic-erotic light but instead been relegated to the realms of unadventurous heritage. Indian heritage — unadventurous?! That has to be either a brave joke or a view filtered through the dark lenses of Victorian prudishness.

Come on! If not the mala, at least the Kadamphul Ruli (a more contemporary derivative) should find its rightful place among the classic jewels of love — conjugal or otherwise. 

When commissioned to make a choor matched to an iconic necklace, all the elements of the latter may not be included in the handswear. There's a clear reasoning for this : while completing the parur...

When commissioned to make a choor matched to an iconic necklace, all the elements of the latter may not be included in the handswear. There's a clear reasoning for this : while completing the parure — with the necklace, earring and ring — the choor must be distinct and should be capable of being worn separately from the rest of the set.

In this jewel, a carefully calibrated mix of hammered wire and select features from the Madhusree necklace (for e.g.,the expressionistic lotus in the centre of all four bosses that are each surrounded by a cable-knit ring) from June 2016, come together with grace and glory as the central panel. But look at the borders! — a single kamal chain is hemmed in on both sides to create a 'par' and the outer walls of the flat wire bezel are evenly notched for a dazzle effect. This is the vital detail that allows the choor's chief character — its wirework — to be witnessed in full strength and gorgeousness. The exploded fleur-de-lis motif is finely done and the spare ball-and-katai-barfi infill highlights it to strike just the right balance between the airiness of filigree and inherent heft of the roundels. The choor is hinged, mind you, for ease of wear, and its grandeur comes from how it essays its attributes through its bold elegance.

Handwrought by an artisan with all-round expertise and designed to be at once matching and monumental, this recherché choor is a scintillating addition to an existing set but also a stand-alone masterpiece of Bengali craftsmanship.

Thirty years, almost. That’s how old the die is from which the distinct quadrilaterals of this kankan have been struck. In truth, the patterned iron punch from which the die is made must be much ol...

Thirty years, almost. That’s how old the die is from which the distinct quadrilaterals of this kankan have been struck. In truth, the patterned iron punch from which the die is made must be much older, such handswear, in reasonably light weight, having found great currency among the traditional-yet-fashionable ladies of genteel Bengali households of the ‘40s and ‘50s.

The construct is hazardously simple : a continuous arrangement of bevelled kites, each of a pair facing the other joined at the tails and separated at their tips, the latter soldered to the polished half-tube that acts as a solid frame on which the pointy thokai ‘ghuris’ are lined up.

Regarding that pointy bit, the soldering of the sharp tails of each facing pair of thokai kites is reinforced by a single ball that also acts as an effective design element to soften the jaggedness of the geometry.

One facet of each ‘ghuri’ is striped, the others all plain-chhela. A narrow bezel running along the edge of the peti is marvellously chiselled: at once concealing the jointing and adding a nice dazzle to the piece.

In the end, it's a classic kankan rejuvenated through its detailing and imparted a timeless freshness by the clarity of its arrangement. It helps that the workmanship is exemplary – a hinge is cleverly included – and the finish is in pristine natural guinea-gold. In this internet age of speed and digital splendour, it takes courage to be simple. This recherche jewel, handcrafted with care and precision, certainly is. 

The Beloari choori reappears four years after we last showcased them to you, but in a new 'old' guise. In fact the set we'd posted in November 2017 was a wider version of the actual bangles tha...

The Beloari choori reappears four years after we last showcased them to you, but in a new 'old' guise. In fact the set we'd posted in November 2017 was a wider version of the actual bangles that were, coincidentally, shown as part of an ensemble of hand-cut chooris exactly four years before that.

To reiterate what we'd said on the last occasion :

"Popular since they were first created at the turn of the century, these very simple, faceted bangles take their name from that of cut-glass, called 'beloari' in Bengali, and followed in exactitude the facets of the crystals of Belgian glass chandeliers that were much in demand then among Indian royalty for decorating their palaces with. You'll see some of the most exquisite and suitably overwhelming examples of these, nineteen in all, strewn across the ceiling of the magnificent Durbar Hall (Khilwat Mubarak) in Chowmahalla Palace, the erstwhile residence of the Nizams of Hyderabad."

The Beloari choori is justifiably famous and reserves a special place in the heart of most 'bonedi' families where sets of them (at least twelve to start with) have traditionally been de rigueur for the lady of the house and have been passed down from generation to generation, mostly to daughters and granddaughters, but also, though seldom, and very selectively, to 'boumas'. "Aamar Thakurma'r choori eguli," has oft been part of a young bride's fond introspection when being fitted with well-worn, but also well-kept, Beloaris as she is prepared for the mandap. For certainty she knows she too is merely a custodian of these sparkling beauties for their facets and their gold will outlive her, but deep within her is also the unshakeable belief that she'll imbue the chooris with her spirit just as her grandmother had done in her lifetime, for every time she wears the Beloaris she feels her Thakurma's power and love and blessings intertwined with the gold.

Remember, this is a chisel-and-hammer manufacture, entirely dependent on the strength and steadiness of the hands of the artisan, and an accuracy of cutting and carving that comes from long practice as first an apprentice, then a practitioner, and finally an expert of traditional jewel-craft. Otherwise it would be impossible to facet the choori symmetrically; a wrong stroke resulting in a skewed pattern that would inevitably require the jewel to be melted down and remade. Also, the control over the force at which the chisel cleaves the soft guinea-gold into the iconic geometric pattern has to be exacting or else there'll be gashes too deep to polish and plane. Remember, the choori is never buffed on the top ; the cutting itself imparts a permanent shine ; a simple ritha-cleaning will return the sparkle like new whenever grime dulls it.

So, then, why the Beloari Choori again? Notice carefully–– zoom if you will –– the six-pointed star engraved into each flat facet. It's a fresh addition but not new in detail. What it does is add an aesthetically sound feature that subtly complements the original : the stars are noticed because they're cut deep into the gold. The height and the width of the bangle, taller and narrower, respectively, must also be noted. This was made as a bespoke order and one in which the sample was given to us by our esteemed customer Mrs. Keka Paul, famous in her own right on account of Mabesha, her splendid handloom-only boutique in South Calcutta. It took us four months to ready a six-piece set accurately matched to the sample, having made and rejected the first batch for being much flatter. The artisan too had to be changed. The chooris are now made by a senior swarnakar, well advanced in years, who's probably going to be the last of his kind, the whole trade having shifted to nifty machines that churn out countless options –– they can't replicate the Beloari shape, though –– that are both weak of construct and bromidic by design. They're what people would buy to block their money in gold without a thought towards beauty, durability, and pleasure. In comparison, these jewels of enduring value will become, in time, symbols of your sentiments, repositories of your feelings and memories, and a sanctuary for your radiant spirit. Not only do they afford you the agency of individuality and liberation during your lifetime, but make you immortal as well in the heirlooms they shall unequivocally become.

"Ma Basant ayo sakhi

Sab ban amva boran lage, bolan lage koyaliya

Sab ragini shringar kar ayi, nayak ko man bas

karveko

Ramdas man bhayo re.

" Spring has com...

"Ma Basant ayo sakhi

Sab ban amva boran lage, bolan lage koyaliya

Sab ragini shringar kar ayi, nayak ko man bas

karveko

Ramdas man bhayo re.

" Spring has come!

Throughout the forest the mango trees have begun to blossom and the koels are breaking into song.

The raginis adorn themselves and present themselves to their lovers.

Seeing this, Ramdas is filled with pleasure.

THE CALL

As I gathered flowers fallen from the myriad trees of Anandavan to weave into a garland for him, my loved one, the distant strains of the sarangi seemed to contest the call of the koel as if pain and pining were commingling in a melody at once so dulcet and demanding that even the trees fell silent. His voice rang out, evenly and with an almost imperceptible tremor, but filled with the passion of a longing that only I could fathom.

It beckoned me to come me to come to him, though for the untrained ears of many it was only a common raga of spring — the Basant Bahar –– sung with rare feeling and a certain clarity that hinted at an amative mood prevalent in its rendition.

THE DREAM

Morning love. The warmth of his hands cupping my buttocks and shaming them red while his cardamom breath sweetened mine so that I felt rain in my heart. As his lips, wild, frenzied, drew blood, my cheeks quivered and my lidded eyes lit up with the fire of a million torches blazing the way to heaven. He pressed against my breast, his proud, powerful, hirtellous chest taming my nipples and making them throb with the frantic beating of his heart. We were animals in the forest then, pounding against each other with a passion so oblivious to anyone and anything that even the propriety of the Gods was breached and love established as the only reality that would remain when everything was gone,when the world had come to its end, when all had been lost to time; and perhaps making love, real love, love like ours, would rebuild the universe, remake the world.

THE GARLAND

I was in the woods still, my basket brimming with wildflowers. The singing had ceased and only a gentle sound of sunlight flirting the leaves remained. I ran in a single breath to my home, my room, my verandah upon the river. With quick, practiced motions of my fingers I wove the threaded needle through the blossoms — gulmohars, amaltas, radhachura, magnolia . . . and countless others that I knew but knew not by name — and made of them a fine, thick mala of mesmeric fragrance and colour. Tearing out pages from my book of slokas without so much as a thought towards whether that might or might not be a sin, I wrapped it loosely and ran to him who I could see was seated along the embankment with his mat rolled in his arms ready to depart but yet in wait in hope that his song might still draw to him me who I know he desired more than his life.

THE MOMENT

A smile danced on his lips as playfully as the ripples upon the placid river the truant south-wind was unabashedly causing as it constantly wooed the gently flowing water into waves. He'd seen me hastening towards him.

As I neared him, he stepped in front as if to curb my speed. His look was suddenly stern, a countenance of severity I was not familiar with in all of the half year that I'd know him, from the time we met in winter at the palace where he had been commissioned to sing and I had accompanied my mother whose occupation it was to dance for royalty.

'What is this?'–– he asked, anger tinging with coldness his otherwise velvet voice, as he snatched the paper packet from me and roughly stripped the pages away. 'A garland of rotting flowers? Is that all you could get me?' There was taunt in the tone, a tenseness of timbre, a rasp to the words that seemed to get louder as he spoke them with a harshness such that it made a stranger of him to my ears.

Then, with a single violent motion, he tore apart and apart the garland and –– as I stood transfixed, my feet taking root in the fear of cruel rejection, my eyes making glassy the landscape with welling tears –– wound a part of the now muddled mala around each of my wrists and as he did so raised my palms and kissed them, held them in his and lifted them to his closed eyes to brush them open. A light of naughty happiness made incandescent his face and he beamed brighter than the sun.

'What use this beautiful banamala if not shared with you, my love. I shall, as promised, have you partake of all that I have down to my last breath and the final beat of my heart.'

With that he clasped me tight; so tight that our heartbeats became one and our souls merged into each other's.

The rest of the garland he placed with grace as a chaplet on his head.

THE BEQUEST

My banamala bracelets I still wear for the flowers are now cast in pure guinea gold. But it isn't only the blossoms anymore : there are butterflies that befriended us, leaves that made of dry earth our soft beds, half-moons by the light of which we made love a thousand times, and fruits as well that sustained us in our wanton wanderings in the woods of Anandavan.

This bracelet, this Banamala Ruli, I share with all you who walk upon the path to truth and beauty as testimony of our love divine.

Stolen from the archive of Victoria and Albert Museum this is actually a gajredar silver anklet from Maharashtra, dating from the early twentieth century. True, we have copied the design in toto, b...

Stolen from the archive of Victoria and Albert Museum this is actually a gajredar silver anklet from Maharashtra, dating from the early twentieth century. True, we have copied the design in toto, but its metamorphosis into a rich magnificent 22k gold hand-chased, hand engraved bala, is entirely our own effort. A revival, not a rewriting of history.

We Bengalis are justifiably proud of our Darjeeling, even though she came to us only in 1935, and that too via Nepal, Sikkim and Bihar. In truth, its famous sobriquet, Queen of the Hills, does make...

We Bengalis are justifiably proud of our Darjeeling, even though she came to us only in 1935, and that too via Nepal, Sikkim and Bihar. In truth, its famous sobriquet, Queen of the Hills, does make us feel grand ---- a linguistic coup for an otherwise beleaguered land. Many have asked,"Is Darjeeling the Tibet of Bengal ?" We're only jewellers. We can't answer that question. All we can do is help you discover a Darjeeling beyond that of being just a jewel in the crown of Bengal : a rare confluence of the history,culture and spirit of its varied inhabitants, those who truly belong there.

From Chowrasta, follow Nehru Road, walking past Glenary's, Das Studio, the Planter's Club and Keventer's, through the roundabout, keeping the taxi stand to your right and Capitol Cinema to your left. You're now on Laden La Road. Keep walking down the winding street and ask a local for directions to Penang --- an authentic Nepali eating house and one of Darjeeling's little wonders ; everyone knows it. A little ahead of the stairs leading up to Penang you'll find a tiny curio shop ; you'll know it when you go. Enter, and be instantly transported to a crepuscular world of magic and mystique : Walls stacked with decades of accumulated artefacts ; every available space (the ceiling as well) filled with masks, malas, metal-ware, puppets, chalices, jewelled swords, figurines and music instruments and millions of other indescribable antiques, as if it were the chosen depository of those who are long gone but couldn't bear to be separated from their beloved town and so left there their favourite effects. There's hardly any space to move inside ; a nearly bare bulb shines through the debris of history, clothed in fragments of once-brilliantly-coloured,now-patinated handicraft.

What we saw there, what we found, what we experienced is what's been replicated in this exquisite,ethereal guinea gold naksha bala that took us almost five months to complete and perfect. What it does is capture the essential spirit of Darjeeling, beyond the struggle and strife, far above the concerns of politics and religion. Here, there's a paradisiacal garden where deer and dragons commingle ; life-giving vines enfold us to protect and nourish ; a single gem-studded prayer wheel reminds us that God is in our hearts and on our lips, in gratefulness for every day we live ; and the aged, flecked ivory mina on the peti resembles the molten, hardened wax from votive candles in a monastery. In that, this bala, painstakingly hand-wrought like Darjeeling itself, becomes the town. It is Darjeeling. For all of you who've been there and those who are yet to, remember to discover Darjeeling, not just visit her. We promise, if you do, she'll stay with you forever.

Not all ornaments are made with a clear purpose ; and,in our case, most aren't ; except that they have to be of universal beauty and must hold within them a simple narrative, or at least embody an ...

Not all ornaments are made with a clear purpose ; and,in our case, most aren't ; except that they have to be of universal beauty and must hold within them a simple narrative, or at least embody an expressive something -- anything -- of reasonable ('high' or 'low' are not words we associate with when we speak of art) aesthetic value. And, of course, they are always born of love.

The Mayurpur necklace is such an ornament : one that comes to mind almost immediately when we reflect upon meaning and significance in our jewellery and the historicity of precious Indian jewellery as a whole.

This elaborate choor was created on the express wish of an elegant, enlightened client with very high taste, to match her Mayurpur necklace. We'd showcased Ms.Madhuja Dey's eponymous tayra,late January,on Facebook and told you then that we would share with you certain jewels that had been customized for her. Well, this is one of those.

All the elements of Mayurpur, the nocturnal garden of love, find a place here, just arranged in a different way. Everything is hand-chased and, as before, the single-sheet naksha is perforated and given an antique copper finish. Fully handcrafted in 22K gold with care, and possible only because lovers of all things beautiful, like Madhuja, insist on creating timeless jewellery in gold, not only as adornment but as powerful, enduring symbols of themselves and their supreme spirit. We thank her for giving us the honour of creating this with her, for her.

The better the glass powder quality the brighter and more fresh the mina. With all the detailing on the top overlapping section (the lower parts are all plain polished) the champlevé enamelling stands out in a single long section of the outer half-pipes where c-scrolls are lined up along two flanks and have little gold bindi-clusters in them.The mina, here, is maroon, blue, green and honey. There’s an etched barfi marker on a small polished section right after this and then a ball-and-paktar longboat, with sat-karaiphul and bindi clusters as the paddles aligned along its sides : the figure of a chundam vallam racing across the waters of Punnamada lake. It culminates in the ribbed box mukh with a raised roof that has a chequered motif on it in the same colours, except the green.

The half-pipe in the middle sees bands of green and red cloisonné enamelling bracketing the ball-bordered garlands of kadamphul that could well be the victory mala for the winners of a certain legendary boat race.

Notice the multi-coloured extensions on each end of the c-scroll part of the outer pipes : these elongate the detail and add colour and complete the decoration of the outer pipes so that when you wear the ornament and it plays on your wrists, the top part is not seen as missing any richness of detail.

All in all, a jewel common of form, but rare of virtue. The excellence of its make –– in detail and in construct –– and the energy that comes from its allusion to the Vallam Kalli (boat race), with the polychrome mina filling in for the colourful pennants and umbrellas, ensures the ornament never grows stale, even if you wear it an umpteen number of times.

Here, for you, is one of Kerala’s great festive traditions as an inarguably classic handcrafted ornament, created with love and meticulous care just like those powerful and speedy chundam vallams that race through the waters of the present to a vibrant, shining future –– a future now secured for ever in pure guinea-gold.

Adapted from our ever-popular Addigai necklace, this grand armlet also doubles up as a choker. You'll recognise the zig-zag thokai pieces strung in a row using thick v-chains, only this time there ...

Adapted from our ever-popular Addigai necklace, this grand armlet also doubles up as a choker. You'll recognise the zig-zag thokai pieces strung in a row using thick v-chains, only this time there are little clusters of ball-thokas, like clumps of golden gooseberries, clinging to the rings above and below. It gives the ornament a lovely organic feel, softens the stark geometry of the central panel and, in fact, bestows upon the bajuband its folksy individuality, thus ensuring its stature as a stand-alone jewel, not just an accessory.

It was made to match the Addigai set we did for Mrs.Keka Paul, an esteemed client, and intended for her daughter, Riddhima, after whom it's named in the abiding tradition of all A.Sirkar jewellery co-created with the customer.

Handcrafted in pure 22K gold, completed in a barely discernible antique finish, with a contrasting red rope tassel for greater effect.

The common passion flower, twining its way in beautifully turned delicate filigree, with each of the chhela rakhiphool guarded by two large frosted leaves the midrib and veins of which are also chh...

The common passion flower, twining its way in beautifully turned delicate filigree, with each of the chhela rakhiphool guarded by two large frosted leaves the midrib and veins of which are also chhela. The fern-like fronds replicate the vine's vigorous tendrils and we see a large opening bud between the flower-and-leaf clusters. Edging the kankan is a plain polished line of the plant's ovoid fruit, cut in half, with a little gathering of gold seeds to crown them.

Painstakingly handcrafted in lustrous 22K yellow gold, this hinged kankan is an extraordinary example of the contemporary interpretation of a very traditional ornament.

Rakhiphool is the local name of the passiflora caerulea, presumably because it looks like a large decorative rakhi. And it's merely opportune that we could bring you this in the right season. In truth though, the plant flowers year round and is strong and healthy through every season : all qualities that we hope life blesses you with, and that which we have tried to imbibe in this confidently classic modern jewel.

He had a penchant for peacocks, not only because they were royal of bearing but because so much of the literature of the land and its spoken history and mythology firmly fixed them as enduring symbols of peace and beauty and love.

Dinbar thought little of what he did when he designed. So gifted was his hand and so fertile his thoughts that it was as if God were guiding him through the drawings he made for his needleworkers, a frugal team but of the best there could ever be : young and old, patient and restless, thoughtful and instinctive, all sorts but each of such supreme talent that they could stitch stars into the sky that the even the moon wouldn't know from the real ones.

Years passed and Dinbar's fame spread far and wide, crossing the seven seas as well to new and unknown lands where his gold embroidery received great recognition and patronage from those who cared about the art of the craft. His peacocks especially, a mind-boggling number of them now, were much loved.

Into this peaceful world of art, its purveyor, and its enlightened patrons, came an unscrupulous trader with his eyes on Dinbar's establishment and his customers.

Rohujee had not the wherewithal to chain stitch a gold line across fabric, had never learnt the craft, had never freed his mind enough to allow imagination in –– how would he succeed in his plan to usurp Dinbar's justifiably loyal followers? Simple : bribe an artisan whose wants always exceed his income, take samples of Dinbar's designs, ask the errant artisan to replicate them in a separate workshop and after that was done, cast him aside to hire cheaper embroiderers who'd do the duplicates but of grossly lesser quality of technique and detail. These would look similar from afar though, and after reducing the prices dramatically, would eventually find buyers.

Dinbar, on the other hand, couldn't ever discount –– his creativity, original thought, imaginative drawings, and painstaking process of making, not allowing for margins enough to resort to cut-throat policies of selling.

This continued for some months, but Dinbar, ever the pacifist, didn't say a word, didn't protest either. He just went about his business in the way that he should –– with love, pure and simple –– although by then the rapacious Rohujee had already declared a significant number of Dinbar's designs as his own 'heritage' creations. By his own words, "being a hundred times larger than Dinbar", he could rule the town and its society, doing whatever he wanted to, including stealing Dinbar's designs and claiming them to be his own.

Then, on a certain day, he put out a design on the display board in the middle of Market Square, tom-tomming it to be his latest : a pair of peacocks nestled in dense foliage. It was a rough and inelegant copy of Dinbar's renowned Mayura-Mayuri tapestry. This was too much! –– even for the soft-spoken artist-embroiderer. He approached the King with a complaint against Rohujee.

The King, knowing how much his wife loved her silks and velvet, mostly those embroidered by Dinbar, and not wishing to upset her in the least, allowed him immediate audience. In the open court, Dinbar's complaint was heard and a date set for the next and concluding session. But on that day the person complained against would also be present, and his defence would be heard too.

On the appointed day, the King asked Rohujee to speak first. The canny impostor was well prepared. Over the course of more than an hour he presented evidence of all the paisleys and animals and birds having existed from time immemorial. "These are not original, your Highness. They have always existed. Artisans have drawings of each from their grandmother's old box of knickknacks. Besides, a peacock can only be of one kind and that's the kind everyone embroiders. It's a common motif that's shared by all and sundry manufacturers and sold to whoever might want it. Dinbar's designs are not his exclusively, and, anyway, there is no such thing as original design."

With that, he also produced a whole sheaf of papers as evidence to corroborate his assertion. Dinbar had nothing new to say. His work always speaks on his behalf. And, here, it's his work that said it all.

The King of Takalok then issued an order upon Dinbar: "Produce for me a peacock pair unlike any that I or anyone of this town will ever have ever seen and make them decorative sentries at the gate of my pleasure palace. If this you can do by Poush Shankranti, I will have proof of your originality of thought and design and it will be decreed that none shall possess the right to replicate your work in any form whatsoever. Rohujee will be given condign punishment for his misleading, misdirected and wholly unethical actions and words."

Dinbar thought a bit, and then realised exactly what he should do. Casting aside the plushness of velvet and gold as thread, he decided he would handcraft a guinea-gold Bauti for the Queen and on the two sides of the hinges (the gate of the pleasure palace) would place the magic peacocks.

But these are no ordinary mayurs : Dinbar crafted them in chaste naksha in a way that their tails grew into richly scrolling vines, each spreading out to become a complete Kalpataru –– the celestial wishing tree –– two pairs, in fact, for the Royal couple so that they may ask and get whatever their hearts desire.

The ornament, unique and invested with the power of imagination, is ready, and we've been given the privilege of priority viewing, before it's taken to the King in about a fortnight. This we share with you as the first jewel of the new year.

Every bit a jewel that might have been made in 1930s Calcutta and quite astonishing in its likeness to the design on page 74 of the M.B.Sirkar catalogue dating from almost ninety years ago, this re...

Every bit a jewel that might have been made in 1930s Calcutta and quite astonishing in its likeness to the design on page 74 of the M.B.Sirkar catalogue dating from almost ninety years ago, this recherché pavé-set bala evokes times long gone when personal jewellery in all its refinement and exquisite detail spoke of character and the gentility of generations for whom wealth was not just a curated show of the abundance of material things but an investment in experience that ran through the course of art of every kind: fine, culinary, decorative, and, of course, the performing arts. Fashion and craft received significant patronage, and many of the great Rajbaris became arbiters of aristocratic social customs related to the high tastes and cultivated etiquette of these privileged families.

Using tools and techniques of European jewel-craft, but with a distinctively Indian design sensibility, the bala is painstakingly wrought from a single sheet of gold that’s drawn upon, etched onto and then pierced for the pattern. A superfine hand-held hacksaw enables the intricate cut-work and, if you notice, the fretwork on the underside as well. The scrolling arabesque includes swirls and flowers and is set with a rare combination of turquoise, rubies and pearls. A pair of vicious, snarling makars ---- teeth bared, tongues showing ---- zealously guard this regal garden, the gates of which used to be shut to those thought to be of lesser esteem. Not any more. While, during the halcyon days of the zamindars, privilege meant taste, today, taste has become a privilege. Those who have it are indeed possessed of a great and unique wealth beyond the scope and measure of mere money. As such, an ornament of this kind is for you who believe in art, appreciate beauty, and know how less a life it is in the living of it without the truth of either, bereft of the companionship of both.

The lovely lady, a noted gynaecologist and obstetrician, who made this to order, waited nearly a year for it to be readied. There were samples of the scroll-work drawn, rejected, drawn again. The ‘peti’, or undercarriage, was altered from the standard and made significantly transparent and delicate to transmit more light and impart a lightness to the structure. The makars were done and redone to proportion, hand frosted, and the ruby and pearl caparison added both for flair and continuity of the joroa form to the ‘mukh’. The manufacturing, done with excruciating care by a virtuoso joroa artisan, overshot the original delivery schedule by months. The result is for you to see. Our kindly and ever-graceful customer, Dr.Padmini Banerjee, was a paragon of patience, and we can only put our hand upon our heart and thank her as much for bearing our slowness as for allowing us the privilege of crafting such a timeless ornament of extraordinary beauty for her and for all you fearless lovers of pulchritudinous jewels with souls to match. Such quietly bold beauty is the sum and substance of that which we must surround ourselves with if we really want to engage ourselves in living to the fullest a life of the highest quality. Dr. Banerjee shows us just how; and the bala, deservedly and in keeping with tradition, is named after her.

Like her, let your jewellery speak for you.

If there is such a thing as responsible romanticism or functional beauty or, for that matter, ecstatic elegance, it's likely y...

If there is such a thing as responsible romanticism or functional beauty or, for that matter, ecstatic elegance, it's likely you'll find any or all of them in this bala of simple construct where the spiral-carved chhatri of a Victorian, colonial-style, mahogany four-poster is evoked, decoratively wound with double strands of tiny nivari blossoms so fragrant that night itself is intoxicated let alone they for whom the bed of love is laid.

The delicate screw-pak chasing with serrated bridges is difficult to do and the superfine seed-pearl garlands have to be measured for width before the naksha-wallah starts his work. As the furrows are formed, the pearls are placed for size and marked for adjustments so that they fit perfectly in the grooves once the bala is finished and the patwar begins his painstaking stringing of the tiny beads round and round the gold spiral. There's no margin for error, here. And it'll be best always to use high quality pearls of uniform shape and size. You might have old Basrai-mukto lines lying around at home or fixed to other jewellery that you don't wear. Don't let them languish in your bank lockers or steel almirahs to be reduced to dust. Use them in ornaments such as this where they can breathe and see and perform their task of lacing the air with love so sweet that none can help but be drunk with romance on the nights (they're undoubtedly evening jewels) when they are worn. Those with husbands and lovers indifferent to the fulfilment of a woman's soul when she longs to be loved, must keep this a sacred secret. And there are the grim, makar sentries at the door of your Nishi Prem griha to make certain the stories of those scented nights of passion remain in the andar-mahal of your creation.

Crafted with great care and the kind of restraint that lifts the simple beyond the plain to sublime, this pair of guinea-gold and pearl balas is a powerful, beautiful, elegant agent of romantic love whose magic is revealed in its wearing. We just have to be disciplined in our usage of it.

A pair of patchwork peacocks and paisleys arranged side-by-side, a half-jhumka pasha with ball-jhurs on long rope-chains down the centre, and x-phul ball extensions at either end, all come together in a brilliant, complex, uncategorisable armlet that bends every rule in the book to emerge a triumph of vernacular sensibility and tradition. The form contradicts the workmanship ; each bird has so many different elements in it that it’s impossible to find a pattern ; the kalkas are a similar cornucopia of intriguing miniature detailing that would probably put the Kashmiri du-rokha embroidery to shame ; there are two radically different chains used ; and, finally, its an opor-haath that doubles up as a choker. With this surfeit of individual impressions one would have thought this painstakingly handcrafted 22K gold ornament as a whole might get lost. But no, it is in fact even more radiantly beautiful because of it, and, in the truest sense, becomes its patron, the gloriously graceful, astonishingly talented, impossible-to-define, devi-like Debahuti Sarkar whom you can see wearing it in the photograph accompanying her own writing in the preceding post. She's a professor, an aesthete, an actor, a researcher, a woman of rare substance, higher sensibilities and refined taste who lives and loves on her own terms. Yet that does nothing to define her, really. It’s her inner strength and beauty that you feel when you meet her and her innate goodness that shines through first. This unique ornament, created with her, derives from that, and is an embodiment of her as a rara avis among modern Indian women.

guinea gold, of an enchanting plant

whose fragrant white flowers perfume

the Bengal monsoon. The pearls

represent the madhumanjari and a

sing...

guinea gold, of an enchanting plant

whose fragrant white flowers perfume

the Bengal monsoon. The pearls

represent the madhumanjari and a

single red ruby hides the pin that

unlocks the bangle.

Wear it and feel its floral magic weave

the scent of sacred love around you.