Ruby Leaf Pattern Necklace Set

A necklace set in gold-tone brass, set with cubic zirconia and coloured glass stones. It drops low on the chest, so it reads as a statement piece rather than a collar. The design is built around a leaf form. Photographed in White.

A closer look

A leaf is the one natural shape that lets a setter run stones in a line and still taper the line to a point, which is why it edges so many Indian necklaces.

Materials

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

It is stocked in 2 shades: White and Red. The photographs show one of them and the swatches on this page show the rest; the shade you choose is confirmed on your enquiry before anything is charged.

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.

Keep the rest of the upper body plain. With a piece this size the necklace and the earrings are the whole ornament — skip the chain, skip a second pendant, and let the neckline do the framing.

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.

Care

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.

Why glass rather than coloured CZ for the colour? Because glass wins on colour. Cubic zirconia can be doped to any shade, but the result is pale and watery at this price, where coloured glass gives the deep ruby and bottle green that Indian jewellery expects. The clear stones are CZ because CZ wins on light. Each material is used where it is better.

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.