Double Strand Rope Payal with Engraved Centre Bead

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.

What you are looking at

Most anklets are a single chain. This one runs two in parallel, held apart along their length so they sit as a pair of fine lines rather than a single one, and both are rope-textured — twisted in the making so the surface catches light along a spiral rather than lying flat.

At the centre, where the two strands converge, sits a short barrel bead engraved with a rosette on its face and ribbed collars at each end. It is the only ornament on the piece and it does two jobs: it gives the eye somewhere to land, and it physically holds the two strands at their correct spacing. A small bell hangs at one side.

The doubled construction is what makes this worth its price over a plain chain. Two strands cover more of the ankle than one without being any heavier or wider in profile, so the anklet reads as substantial from a distance while still disappearing under a trouser hem. It is also noticeably more durable: if one strand is caught and strained, the other carries the load.

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.

When to wear it

This is the dressiest of the plain payal in this range and the one that works best with a saree or a festive kurta, where a single thin chain can look lost. It is quiet — one small bell rather than a fringe — so it suits an occasion where you want the anklet seen but not heard.

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.