Antique Gold Elephant Hasli Set with Ruby Kundan Pendant

The collar on this set is deliberately understated — a fine antique-gold wire, thin enough to almost disappear against the skin — because everything it exists to do happens at the front. Hanging from it is a pendant built in three stages, and each one is worth looking at separately.

At the top is a ribbed gold bar, set with a single oval stone in a deep pink-red. Below it stand two elephants in profile, facing each other, cast in the round with their trunks curved down and a white kundan teardrop set in the space between them. From the elephants hangs the main drop: a large oval stone in the same pink-red, surrounded by a close ring of clear white kundan, and fringed along its lower edge with small white pearls.

The elephants are what give the piece its character. Facing pairs of animals — elephants, peacocks, parrots — are one of the oldest arrangements in Indian temple jewellery, and they work for a specific reason: a symmetrical pair reads instantly as a composed design rather than as an ornament that happens to have an animal on it. Elephants in particular carry a long association with prosperity and with rain, and in the south they are inseparable from temple ornament.

The finish is antique gold rather than bright — a warmer, slightly darkened tone with the recesses left deeper, which is what makes the cast detail on the elephants legible. On a bright polished gold the same casting would flatten into a shiny lump; antiquing is what lets you see trunks and legs.

Matching earrings come with the set and repeat the pendant's logic at a smaller scale: a square top set with a white kundan stone, below it an oval pink-red stone ringed in white kundan, and a fringe of small pearls along the lower edge. They are a substantial pair rather than studs, which suits a necklace whose collar is this fine — the weight in this set is meant to sit at the face and the centre front, not around the neck.

Wear it with a plain neckline so the pendant has clear space below it. The pink-red reads strongly against cream, ivory, deep green and black, and it sits naturally with a silk saree or a plain kurta in a solid colour. Because the collar is rigid and fine, it also layers well: a longer chain beneath it will not collide with the pendant.

Base metal is brass with an antique gold-tone finish; the stones are Monalisa glass and kundan-style paachi work, and the pearls are shell-style faux pearls. Supplier stock is very limited, so this is listed for WhatsApp enquiry rather than direct checkout.

About the Gold-Tone Finish

This is brass with a gold-tone plating rather than solid gold, which keeps the price where it is and the weight low enough to wear comfortably. Plating is a surface rather than a bulk property, so how long it lasts depends almost entirely on what it meets — perfume, hairspray and sweat all shorten it, while a dry cloth after wearing and a closed pouch between wearings extend it considerably.

Care

Put this on after perfume, hairspray and hand cream, and take it off before washing, swimming or sleeping. Wipe with a dry soft cloth and use a dry soft brush around the stone settings and between any pearls, where a cloth cannot reach. Store it in a zip-lock pouch — which is what the supplier themselves advise, and the single most effective thing for a plated piece, because it keeps humid air off the metal. Never use silver polish, dip cleaners or an ultrasonic cleaner.