Design Resource
Kundan-Meena Jewelry, Jaipur
Oldest forms of Kundan jewelry
by
Meenakari
‘Meenakari’ is the technique of decorating the jewelry with enamel. It is an intricate and laborious process. Mostly red, green, blue and white are used. Combination of these with the color of gold is called ‘Panchranga’. These colors are applied with thin needles or spokes in the engraved pattern.
The jewelry piece has to be fired as many times as the number of colors used. Firing could be done in an electric kiln or on the coils of the domestic heater using a thin iron mesh. This fuses the color to the gold. Once all the colors are filled in and fired, the piece is scrubbed with a filer to enhance the gold outline of the pattern. Then this is boiled with a mild acid for sheen and sent to the next karigar for stone-setting.
