| Weight (g) | 0.00 |
| Colour | Baby Pink |
| Occasion | Festival |
A blackened pair of drop earrings in German silver over brass and coloured stones. The frame copies a temple panel. They measure about 1.5 inches.
This is a drop: a small top at the ear and the real design hanging below it. The arrangement puts the ornament where it catches light at eye level rather than hiding it against the lobe.
The frame copies a temple panel: an arched niche with figures set inside it. Temple jewellery is the most formal of the Indian idioms and the most architectural — it is literally drawn from shrine buildings.
The peacock is the oldest motif in Indian ornament and the most loaded — rain, fertility, Krishna — and its fanned tail gives a jeweller a natural way to spread small stones across a wide surface.
The centre is a square panel, which is unusual on an earring and is what gives this pair its distinctly South Indian look.
Coloured glass stones are used alongside the clear ones. Glass is the right choice for colour at this price: it takes a deeper, more saturated shade than any cut crystal does.
A triangular stone caps the design at the lobe, a shape rarely used and all the more noticeable for it.
The metal is brass with a German silver finish. German silver contains no silver at all — it is an alloy of copper, nickel and zinc that happens to be silver-white, and it has been used for Indian tribal and oxidised jewellery for well over a century because it takes a blackening beautifully.
The stones are Monalisa, a translucent glass stone sold under that name across India. It is not a gemstone and Keyura does not describe it as one. What it is is the only material that gives this depth of colour for the money.
There are 7 colourways: Baby Pink, Sea Green, Multi Color, Yellow, Blue, Black and Green. The swatches on this page show them; the shade you choose is confirmed on your enquiry before anything is charged.
Keep the throat bare and let them hang clear. A drop earring is the cheapest way to lengthen a face, and it only works if nothing crowds it.
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.
Treat the finish as the wearing part. Keep it away from water, perfume and hair spray, put the earrings on after you have finished dressing, and wipe them with a dry cotton cloth before they go away. Stored dry in a zip pouch with the air pressed out, the finish lasts for years; left in a humid bathroom it will not last a season.
Checkout on this piece runs through an enquiry rather than a cart. Colour stock moves fast at this price, so we confirm the exact shade, the price and the delivery estimate with you before anything is paid. All Keyura orders are prepaid. Cash on delivery is not offered anywhere on this site.
| Weight (grams) | 0.00 |
| Colour/Finish | Baby Pink |
| Occasion | Festival |
| Gender | women |
| SKU/Product Code | KEYU-NAA3326 |
