Oxidised Snake Chain Payal with Ghungroo Clusters

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.

Design and detail

The chain here is a snake chain — a close-coiled round section that has no visible links, so it lies smooth against the skin and moves like a cord rather than a chain. It is the most comfortable chain type for an ankle, because there are no edges to press when a shoe or a hem rubs across it.

Spaced along the chain at intervals hang small clusters of ghungroo, two or three bells to a cluster, each on its own short link. They are the only ornament on the piece and they are what makes the sound. Because they are grouped rather than continuous, the anklet is noticeably quieter than a full bell fringe — present when you walk, but not something that announces you across a quiet room.

Metal and stones

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 beautifully and does not soften or scratch as readily as plated brass, which is why almost all everyday Indian anklets are made from it rather than from something more precious. Here it is brass finished to the same effect.

How it wears

This is the anklet to buy if you want something you can wear every day with anything. There is no stone to catch, nothing wide enough to show under a trouser hem, and the plain snake chain reads as quiet and modern despite the traditional bells.

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 are slightly out of step with each other as you walk, which is what produces the soft irregular jingle people associate with payal rather than a single repeating note. If you buy a pair, wear the pair.

Care and storage

An anklet lives a harder life than any other piece of jewellery. It is in contact with 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 if you can, slip it off before bathing and dry it if it does get wet. A dry soft cloth is the whole of the cleaning routine — never a silver polish or a dip, which strip the blackening that the design depends on.