Black Bead Cluster Payal with Ghungroo Ends

Payal is simply the Hindi word for an anklet, and in most of India it is still the first piece of jewellery a girl is given and the last an older woman takes off. It is worn as a pair, one on each ankle, and traditionally it was meant to be heard as much as seen — the sound announced that someone was coming, which in a joint household was a courtesy rather than a performance.

About the design

Where the single-bead version of this anklet places one flat black bead at the centre, this one gathers four or five of them into a close cluster, stacked so they overlap slightly and spread across about an inch of the chain. Coiled spacers hold the group at each end, the chain either side is a smooth snake chain, and a small cluster of ghungroo bells hangs at each clasp.

When to wear it

Grouping the beads changes the character completely. One bead reads as a habit — something worn without thinking, the way a nazariya is tied on a child and never really removed. A cluster reads as a decision: it is wide enough to be the first thing you notice about the ankle, and it catches light across several faces at once rather than one.

The reasoning behind black beads is the same either way. A dark bead is held to absorb or deflect an envious look, which is why they appear on infants' wrists, in a mangalsutra, and at the ankle. This version simply says it louder.

Measurements

At 10 inches the anklet sits snug at the narrowest part of the ankle, which matters here: a cluster this wide looks deliberate when it sits at the front and awkward when it slides round to the side.

Materials used

German silver is the trade name for a bright white alloy of copper, nickel and zinc. It contains no silver at all. What it does have is a hard, cool-toned surface that takes an oxidised finish well and resists scratching better than plated brass, which is why almost every everyday Indian anklet is made to look like it.

Wear it where the ankle shows. Black against oxidised silver is one of the easiest combinations in Indian jewellery — it works against any skin tone, any fabric colour, and with both gold and silver worn elsewhere.

A note on wearing a pair rather than one. Single anklets have become common and there is nothing wrong with wearing one, but a pair sits differently: the two sounds fall slightly out of step as you walk, which is what produces the soft irregular jingle people associate with payal rather than a single repeating note.

Looking after it

An anklet lives a harder life than any other piece of jewellery. It meets shoes, floors, door frames and bedsheets, and it is the piece most likely to be worn into the shower because taking it off is a nuisance. Water is what dulls an oxidised finish fastest, so slip it off before bathing where you can. A dry soft cloth is the whole cleaning routine — never a silver polish or a dip, which strip the blackening the design depends on.