Design Resource
Kundan-Meena Jewelry, Jaipur
Oldest forms of Kundan jewelry
by
Ghadayi
‘Ghadayi’ is the process of making the skeleton or framework of the jewelry piece. Firstly, thin gold strips are prepared from a rolling machine. These are cut, coiled, shaped according to the design chosen by (or given to) the karigar using small tweezers and fine tools. These are placed or ‘set’ on a wax board to exactly replicate the design and then soldered together to form one solid piece such as an earring or a pendant. The black residue on the piece after the soldering process is cleaned using mild chemicals and then dried. Lac is heated and poured into the creeks, which are supposed to hold the gems.
