Rosette and Leaf Payal with Marquise Stones

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.

This is the brightest piece in the anklet range — the one that reads as proper occasion jewellery from across a room. At its centre is a rosette: one larger round stone surrounded by ten smaller ones, every stone in its own beaded collet, the whole disc set against a deeply blackened field so the ring of settings stands out like beadwork.

About the design

Either side of the rosette sit pairs of marquise-cut stones — the long pointed oval shape — mounted as two-leaf sprigs angled away from each other, so they read as foliage growing out from the central flower. Between the sprigs and the clasp are single round-stone links. Flower, leaves, bud, repeated outward: it is the standard grammar of Indian floral jewellery, compressed into a few centimetres.

The marquise cut is the reason this one sparkles more than the rest. Its long axis catches light along the whole length of the stone rather than at a single point, and when there are four of them angled differently on each anklet, something is always catching the light as you move.

What it is made of

A word on the stones, because it matters when you are choosing a colour. These are glass and cubic zirconia, not gemstones, cut and polished and set by hand into closed metal bezels. That is the traditional setting for Indian costume jewellery and it does two useful things: the closed back holds the stone securely against the knocks an anklet takes, and it puts a dark oxidised rim around every stone so the colour reads clearly instead of washing out against the metal.

Which colours are stocked

It also means the colours are saturated rather than subtle. A sea green here is a true green-blue, a ruby is a deep pink-red, and the baby pink is pale and milky rather than bright. The photographs on each swatch are of that exact colourway, so trust them over the colour name.

Four colourways are stocked. White is the one in the main photograph and the brightest — clear stones throughout, which is the closest thing in this range to a diamond look and the obvious choice for a wedding. Red sets red centres against clear white surrounds. Sea Green and Baby Pink are the two softer options, both of which calm the piece down considerably.

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 an occasion anklet. It is not the one to wear under jeans or into an office, and it is not the one to wear with shoes that rub, because the marquise points do stand slightly proud of the band. Wear it with a saree, a lehenga or a gown where the ankle shows.

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 and it is also what loosens a bezel-set stone over time, so slip it off before bathing. A dry soft cloth is the whole cleaning routine — never a silver polish or a dip, which strip the blackening the design depends on and can fog the stones.