Antique Peacock Ear Cuff with Pearl Jhumka

An ear cuff in gold-tone brass, set with cubic zirconia and worn on the upper rim of the ear, where it needs no piercing. The design is built around the peacock. Photographed in Red.

A closer look

The peacock is the oldest motif in Indian ornament and the most loaded: it stands for rain, for fertility and for Krishna, and its fanned tail gives a jeweller a natural way to spread small stones across a wide surface.

The drop below the cuff is a jhumka: a dome with a flared bell hung below it. The jhumka is probably the oldest surviving Indian earring shape, and the bell is what makes it swing rather than merely dangle.

A fringe of drops hangs from the bottom edge, and its job is movement. A fringe catches the eye when the wearer moves; a static piece only catches it when the light does.

Materials used

The white stones here are cubic zirconia — American Diamond, or AD, in the Indian trade. It is grown rather than mined, cut to the same geometry as a diamond, and noticeably more dispersive, so it breaks white light into visible colour. That dispersion is the quality you are actually buying.

The broad rim around each coloured stone is the kundan idiom, carried over from a technique in which pure gold foil is pressed cold around the stone until it holds. Nothing here is gold foil, but the proportions are the ones that technique produced.

Which colours are stocked

One colourway is stocked, in Red — the shade the design was drawn for and the one in the photographs.

It is plated brass — a gold polish over a brass body. That is what makes a piece this size affordable, and the brass is also why it has some heft rather than feeling like foil.

Because it clips rather than pierces, an ear cuff goes on and comes off in seconds. Seat it high on the ear where the cartilage is thinnest and it will stay put through an evening.

Costume jewellery earns its place by letting you wear a shape you would never commission in gold. Nothing here pretends to be precious; the pleasure is in the design, and the design is genuinely old.

Keeping it looking right

Plating is a surface, so it wears where it rubs. Perfume and sweat dull it fastest, so spray first and dress second, then wipe the piece with a soft dry cloth. A zip-lock pouch with the air squeezed out really is the best storage — it is what keeps oxygen off the metal.

If you are building a set, the pieces in this collection are drawn from the same supplier and the same finish, so a necklace and a pair of earrings bought separately here will match in tone. That is not true across brands, where one gold polish can be visibly cooler than another.

Rather than an add-to-cart button you will find an enquiry button, and that is deliberate: these arrive in small quantities per colour, and we would rather confirm the shade is in hand than refund you later. All Keyura orders are prepaid. We do not offer cash on delivery.