| Stone Type | Kundan |
| Weight (g) | 0.00 |
| Colour | Red |
| Occasion | Wedding |
A domed circular ornament carries a deep red stone at its centre, surrounded by a ring of white kundan petals and then a complete border of small pearls. It hangs from a pearl strand ending in a hair hook. Roughly 5 inches overall.
Placing the single red stone dead centre and ringing it with white is the oldest arrangement in kundan work, and it is doing something specific: white kundan is bright but colourless, so it reads as light rather than colour, which leaves the red as the only hue on the piece. The eye goes straight to it. Scatter red and white together instead and neither would hold the centre.
A borla is the round, domed maang tikka of Rajasthan — the name comes from bor, the ber fruit. Being three-dimensional rather than flat, it sits proud of the forehead and keeps its appearance from the side as well as face-on, which a flat pendant tikka does not.
The same pearls that border the dome continue as the chain, so the piece reads as one object rather than an ornament hung from something else. A pearl strand also sits more softly along the parting than a metal chain.
A centre parting is needed. The hook slides into the hair at the parting, the dome rests on the forehead, and the chain should lie flat rather than pulled tight.
Red and gold is the wedding pairing, so this suits bridal and heavy-occasion dressing — lehengas, Banarasi, bandhani. Keep the necklace simple; both sit in the same eyeline.
Weddings, bridal wear, festivals, sangeets and receptions.
Type: Borla maang tikka. Metal: Copper base. Work: Domed face with a red kundan centre, white kundan ring and pearl border, on a pearl chain. Size: approximately 5 inches overall.
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.
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.
| Stone Type | Kundan |
| Weight (grams) | 0.00 |
| Colour/Finish | Red |
| Occasion | Wedding |
| Gender | women |
| SKU/Product Code | KEYU-NAA1991 |
