From Top to Bottom in Photo – Precious Indian Chalcedony Bangle inlayed Kundan setting with table cut natural light Yellow Diamonds (1 matching pair – two bangles), Precious Indian Chalcedony Bangle inlayed Kundan setting with natural Indian Grape Garnet cabochon, Precious Indian Chalcedony inlayed Kundan setting with natural Burmese Blue Sapphire, Precious Indian Bloodstone inlayed Kundan setting with natural Burmese Orange Spessartine, Precious Indian Chalcedony Bangle inlayed Kundan setting with table cut natural White Diamond.
Kundan
These precious gemstone bangles have the addition of the India traditional jewellery medium of kundan added. This is where you take pure silver barak (a fine polished silver sheet) and imbed it into a niche cut out within the bangle. The next step is placing a gemstone into the area and covering the sides in a molten 22 karat liquid gold bezel set process. The look is timeless, contemporary and Indian at the same time. Olkaan Nishtah designed this series to take the traditional Indian Gemstone Bangle we revived and to bring it into the present while adding a further unique traditional design element.
Rare, Minimalist, Bold and Fashionable. The bangle is the brand.
The history of the Indian Gemstone bangle
For a thousand years gemstone bangles in Agate, Chalcedony and Nephrite Jade were the preferred choice for India’s female elite. Mass manufactured handmade glass, then moulded glass and leaded glass came along, and the tradition disappeared
It was a goal of Olkaan Nishtah founders to revive this lost art and to see and hear again elegant and stylish women wearing them.
Over a six year period Olkaan Nishtah’s Shanane Davis meticulously brought the India precious gemstone bangle back to life.
On average it takes 30 kilos of rough precious gems to produce one extra fine bangle. The knowledge based process is intense, a labour of love.
1st – grade the Gemstone rough and find where the finest quality is.
2nd – to mark the area with India Ink.
3rd – to use a rough uncut diamond attached by lac (lacquer) onto a wooden stick to carefully break the bangle interior by hand.
4th – clear out the rough gemstone in what becomes the centre of the bangle (the part the wrist will go through).
5th – to create the bangle shape.
6th – to hand facet the bangle.
7th – polish the bangle on all sides.
One bangle by day, two by evening, and multiple by night. They ring and bell finer than crystal wine flutes. The walls and passageways of the zenana (harem) chimed and echoed their lovely sound.
These precious gemstone bangles were designed and overseen in the making by Shanane Davis.
All designs are by Olkaan Nishtah Private Limited and Copyright Protected
