Kundan

Kundan is a traditional form of Indian gemstone jewellery where gems are mounted in a gold casing and the gaps between the stones and the mount are filled by pressing in a gold foil. 

The elaborate kundan making process begins when the skeletal framework called ghaat is created from gold that has been mixed with a small quantity of silver and copper and flattened into strips called sadhai. The strips are used to create the desired shape of the jewellery, then heated and placed on a gold sheet and the two parts are soldered together. The extra gold is snipped off by a chilai process. The product is then placed on shellac and an engraver creates a pattern using a fine chisel.

For the gem setting, the interior of the jewel is filled with surmai, a mixture of shellac and antimony, and mounted on a rod for easy handling. The gem is set after being positioned and heated with charcoal by a process called khudai. Extra surmai is removed and the setting is smoothed and shaped with a chisel. The jewelled piece is placed on soft shellac and very fine strips of pure gold are cut and filled around the gem, in several layers, till the setting is completely secured. 

The setting is smoothed and shaped along the gem and extra bits of gold are cut off. The piece of jewellery undergoes a final cleaning and polishing process. The common motifs in kundan jewellery are flowers leaves and birds. For the setting, precious and semi- precious stones are used and uncut diamonds called polki are most popular.

Kundan choker and chandbalis, from 1900-1906.