Meenakari Jewelry

In Meenakari jewelry, precious stones are set and then enameled with gold. Historically speaking, the art was introduced to Rajasthan artisans by Raja Mansingh of Amer. He invited Lahore-based skilled artisans to his kingdom, and their intermingling with the locals craftsmen resulted in an amalgam.
Jewelry is such a fascinating field that the desire to create a better piece than before has always kept the jewelry designers busy in experimenting with new designs using new materials. Even people who love to adorn jewelry find the idea of experimenting with different metals and designs refreshing. This certainly heightens the fashion quotient of the person wearing it as variety is what the modern generation always demands for.

Modern Day Jewelry of the Indian Bride : Bridal jewelry gains the maximum attention of all due to its exquisite designs and the aura attached to it which gives a charismatic look to the bride. However; the modern age prefers some new styles in bridal designs as well in order to give a perfect blend of modern and traditional appearance to the bride on the most important event of her life.The most important influence over bridal jewelry in India has been brought by Kundan, Rajasthani Meenakari and Thewa works which play a pivotal role in shaping the beautiful designs and carving the shapes of the modern day jewelry of the Indian bride.

Characteristics of Bridal Jewelry Collection :
Here is a list of the basic features of the bridal jewelry collection
The symbol of rich culture with a traditional value attached to it.

Exquisite look to give a divine appearance to the bride on the occasion.
Uniqueness brought out with the modern touch to make it a valuable gift. 

So, it basically consists of the blend of the best characteristics of traditional jewelry from all the parts of India. Delicate minute detailing, potential use of precious gem stones and exquisite meena works and intricacy of the design form an important part of Indian bridal jewelry

Influence of Rajasthan’s Meenakari on Bridal Jewelry : Dazzling meenakari works of Rajasthan has greatly influenced the bridal jewelry collection of India. The beauty of this art lies in the intensity of technical skills required for its creation which gives perfection to the ornaments with meenakari designs.Raja Man Singh of Mewar is regarded as the patron of the meenakari art in 16th century Jaipur due to whose efforts this art gained a wide applaud among the people. Jaipur became the hub of meenakari art with the influx of highly skilled craftsman from Lahore. In a few years, the talent of the craftsmen made the place a specialized centre of meenakari designing.

What is Meenakari : Meenakari designing basically refers to the process of coating grooves or engravings in ornaments with colored enamels. A wide variety of metals can be used for meenakari designing which include brass, copper, silver and gold. The jewelry highlights depressions similar to a popular design or animal figurines or images of gods and goddess. The idea behind this is to give the appearance of a picture. The look of the pictures is enhanced by filling the enamels which gives a vivid clarity to the theme according to which the grooves were designed. So, meenakari jewelry is used to beautifully express various themes and occasions and give exquisite look to it. This is one of most applauded features of the meenakari technique which distinguishes it from others.Surface of the metal is engraved with intricate designs by the meenakars using a metal stylus and later filled with colors. After that, the meena is placed in a furnace where the colors get fused and hardened and appear uniform to the surface. Thereafter a mixture of lemon and tamarind is used to gently rub the surface and get the luster of each color highlighted.

Enamel colors chiefly consist of metal oxides mixed with a tint of finely powdered glass. The color yellow is obtained by using chromate of potash, violet is obtained through carbonate of manganese, green through copper oxide, blue through cobalt oxide, brown through red oxide, and black through manganese, iron, and cobalt. The brilliant red is the most difficult color to be created. The colors are applied on the metal as per their level of hardness keeping the hardest as the first. Before the application of enamel, it is necessary to clean the surface of the ornament. To get the true colors, the mixtures are fired in the kiln at an average temperature of around 850 degree Celsius.

The increased demand for meenakari jewelry in the past few years has certainly proved the growing charm for this art. Available in both traditional and modern designs, it is becoming the first choice for the jewelry lovers.