Pearl Strand Dangler Earrings with Green Beads

A pair of drop earrings in gold-tone brass, set with cubic zirconia and coloured stones. They measure about 2.5 in. Photographed in Green.

About the design

Shaped drops hang below the main body of the piece, lengthening the line and keeping the design from reading as a solid block.

Small pearls finish the lower edge. Pearls do something no faceted stone can — they give back a soft, diffused light, which calms a design that would otherwise be all sparkle.

Gold-tone beads edge the design. A beaded border is the oldest way of finishing a piece of Indian jewellery, and it also hides the seam where the setting meets the frame.

Metal and stones

American Diamond is the Indian trade name for cubic zirconia, a crystal grown in a furnace rather than dug out of the ground. It takes a proper facet, holds a polish, and throws a little more coloured fire than diamond because it bends light harder. At this price it is the only stone that will give a design real light.

The broad rim around each coloured stone is the kundan idiom, carried over from a technique in which pure gold foil is pressed cold around the stone until it holds. Nothing here is gold foil, but the proportions are the ones that technique produced.

Which colours are stocked

One colourway is stocked, in Green — the shade the design was drawn for and the one in the photographs.

The base is brass under a premium gold polish. Brass is the right base for costume jewellery — heavy enough to feel like something, soft enough to be worked, and it does not go brittle with age.

Pull the hair off the face and let them show. With a heavy necklace as well this becomes a great deal of ornament — one or the other is usually enough.

Styling it

There is no sense in which this is an investment piece, and that is rather the point of it — you can buy a colour that suits one outfit, wear it to one wedding, and be satisfied.

Keeping it looking right

Plating is a surface, so it wears where it rubs. Perfume and sweat dull it fastest, so spray first and dress second, then wipe the piece with a soft dry cloth. A zip-lock pouch with the air squeezed out really is the best storage — it is what keeps oxygen off the metal.

The finish is a gold polish rather than gold plating in the electroplated sense, which is the normal trade finish on Indian costume jewellery. It gives a warmer, slightly deeper colour than a thin electroplate and it sits better with coloured stones, but it is still a surface and it still needs the care below.

Checkout on this piece runs through an enquiry rather than a cart. Colour stock moves quickly at this price, so we confirm the exact shade, the price and the delivery estimate with you first. Payment is prepaid in every case; cash on delivery is not available.