Round Mandala Pendant Necklace Set

A necklace set in gold-tone brass, set with cubic zirconia and coloured glass stones. It sits just below the collarbone, which is the easiest necklace length to wear. The design is built around a cluster of stones. Photographed in Green.

Design and detail

Massing small stones into a cluster is the cheapest way to get the light of one large stone, and it is how Indian jewellery has always answered that problem — the cluster has a far longer history here than the solitaire.

What it is made of

The clear stones are cubic zirconia, sold across India as American Diamond, or simply AD. Cubic zirconia is a laboratory-grown crystal of zirconium dioxide, and it is not an imitation in the way glass is: it is a genuinely hard, singly refractive crystal, cut on the same wheels as diamond. It disperses light into slightly more colour than a diamond does, which is why a good AD piece reads as bright rather than as dull paste.

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.

Colour options

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

It is plated brass — a gold polish over a brass body. That is what makes a piece this size affordable, and the brass is also why it has some heft rather than feeling like foil.

Wearing it

Wear it with the neckline bare — a boat neck, a deep round neck, or a blouse cut away at the throat. A necklace at this weight competes with a dupatta pulled across the chest, so pin the dupatta back off the shoulder.

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.

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.

This piece is listed for enquiry rather than instant checkout, because stock on the colour you want has to be confirmed before we take money for it. Use the enquiry button on this page and we will come back with availability, the final price and a delivery window. Keyura is prepaid only EM there is no cash on delivery on any order.