Silver with Iron Jewellery! How does that sound?

The last post was a mix of silver and copper.... There are bangles made with just silver and iron and some which have copper too. Women from Kolkata will be familiar with this.  I picked my first few loha bangles as they call it from Kolkata and later got a few made from different places down south.  Here is my favourite! A classic kadha with silver, copper and iron.

A simple twisted loha bangle 

                                                                                           


Braided silver and iron bangles with a geometric head, a change from the usual.

The braided silver and iron bangles are sometimes made along with copper and these look just as great! Here's what it would look like with copper included.

Braided kadha with silver, copper and iron.

I got a classy pair of loha bangles made with a spherical head and a pair with the elephant head which has a simpler design but far more trendy. This is what is looks like... 

I really like the what these metals do to silver... make it subdued and you don't have to get it oxidised or polished in antique, dull finish.  Iron and copper do it for you! I have more than a dozen of these and each time i wear it, I am tempted to get another made as if this isn't enough.

        All four together!

I am sure each of you reading this is wondering when  you have to make a trip to Kolkata to get a pair of the loha bangles.  I am such a silver person but I could not stop myself from buying the gold ones too.... will post a few pictures of those too sometime soon.  Thanks for reading!

A mix of mediums - silver and copper!

Happy New Year!

This is my first post for 2014 ..... this one's about being able to combine different metals with silver while making different pieces of jewellery.  And Voila!

This is a bracelet with a ram head.

I just love the way this bracelet or kadha  looks.... conceptualised to finished in a week!!! I am so proud of it!  I was gifted two dozen thin copper bangles and i wasn't going to wear it just like that!  I raked my brains for a few days and came up with this and how beautiful it is! I did not get the final copper polish done after the soldering so some of the bangles look  like silver ... the copper turned white while soldering.

This is a pretty pair of kadhas I got made in Kolkata with copper and silver... this is a more available and common  yet beautiful design with elephant heads.  

You will now get to see the ideas  I borrowed from the above two and came up with.  This is a sure winner for those who don't like too traditional jewellery.

Flat copper bangles with geometric shapes in silver!

                             A look into the entire dozen with differently sized geometric shapes.

Although I wanted a hammered look on the silver part.... my karigar forgot that, I quite like it so retained it that way.  So I try and get a new set to get the hammered look and my silversmith came up with this.....

He beat up the copper and beat up the silver! 

I still don't plan to change this as it is different neither of us has seen it before! I am sure now more and more of you will experiment with this kinda look.  Enjoy!

              

A necklace - dear to me!

Last summer, I learnt to make coasters out of plastic beads and crystals from my nieces visiting India. They learnt this craft in Chennai during their vacation and I picked it up from them. I took a lot of help from my mother who learnt alongside them.  If you look closely at the picture below you will see what I am talking about.  A technique meant for coaster making I converted to a necklace!  I am sure the pendant attached is beautiful by itself and would look good with a string or a silver chain.... but this necklace does the magic!

It was indeed a lot of trouble for me from finding a pendant to hunting a clasp with four holes to thread the silver beads.  I succeeded finally.  The silver beads are about 6mm big.  It looks like pearls... doesn't it? The oxidized pendant with pearl drops fixed to a necklace of silver beads worked really well.  I have worn this many times and have received many a compliment.  You can scout the whole market.... there isn't another piece!!!  I take great pride this is what is 'one of a kind'.  

Here is a close look at the pendant

This is pendant with Lord Krishna in it.  It has tiny green emeralds that accentuates the beauty.   I team this up with one of many pearl jhumkas and I know... it simply is stunning!

I would finish the look with a pair of pearl bangles or four of my plain silver ones and not to forget a pair of pretty pearl toe rings.

Deepika Padukone's Ramleela inspired earrings!

I watched Ram Leela and I loved Deepika Padukone in it.  She is so pretty! You can't not notice Ranveer in that movie.... He is hot! Long before the movie was released the earrings that Deepika wore in the promos caught my eye.  Well I decided I would make a similar pair for myself  and watch the movie wearing it and so I did!  You must think I am crazy.... but if you listen to stories from my mum about how i would be up all night to embroider a dress that I stitched myself and wore the next day to college..you won't be surprised!

Here is a picture of the gorgeous Deepika padukone

                                                                          The earring inspired by Deepika Padukone

Well it isn't identical but similar. The earrings are very heavy and I use what we call a 'maati' (worn around the ear) to bear the weight. Here is a closer look....

The motif is that of Goddess Lakshmi with aquamarine stones

You can see no stones in the one worn in the movie... I just changed it a bit and added white polki and aquamarine stones.  This pair is stunning!  All credit to the master craftsman who converts each of my sketches to masterpieces. Team a plain sari with an embroidered blouse and you are ready to go.

From drawing board to work table....

        

Ear cuffs

If it was hip in the 90s chances are it will come back again.... and to no one's surprise it is cool again. Yes I am talking about ear cuffs.  I had worn it for a wedding way back in '93, a friend of mine had given me one.  How I enjoyed wearing it!  I don't have a picture of that... I hope Meena if you are reading this, you will dig through your wedding pictures and post it here.

That pair was in gold.  I have since graduated to silver and probably will not go back.

Here is the picture of pretty ear cuffs in zircon... my first pair of 2013!

Wow! is all I have to say about this.

I will soon upload a picture of this on  pretty ears of someone who is ready to model for me. You can have ones in silver without stones, cuffs that look like finger rings that sit on your ear lobe. So many options!  I am a floral person, as I said before.  You will see a lot of flowers in my designs.  The more ornate, the more intricate the better for me.

Jewellery with Rudraksh beads

Rudraksh beads are actually seeds that are traditionally used as  prayer beads.  The beads are known to have benefits and powers.  I don't know more than this about rudraksh. However, I use it in my jewellery only because it looks beautiful and the colour of wood contrasts the silver pendants beautifully.

   I am sorry for the picture quality... I need to take better pictures!

This is about 35" long 

A closer look at the pendant strung with wooden beads

This is a choker with silver beads and rudraksh.

Each of the pieces is hard to find and unique. I would wear it with a dress, a skirt and of course a sari! The best is yet to come!  One of the most gorgeous pieces... a head turner .... here it is!

This is strung with 12 mm beads that I bought at a temple in Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu.  I used similar kind of silver beads( don't you like it?)  The necklace has been strung with silver beads interspaced and is about 36 inches long. 

It was very uncommon to find big pendants in silver.  We mostly see it in gold.  Such chunky pieces have been worn in gold and precious stones by the Maharajas,Maharanis and dancers too......Each piece has a story.  When a piece of jewellery reaches me, I sit on it and visualise what looks best with it. A silver chain? I would have gone so wrong if I chose that! Black onyx or ruby? Nothing would be as convincing as the rudraksh and silver bead combination.

My blogs... ones yet to happen!

I have been contemplating writing a blog for close to three years.  Not just one but three blogs! 

One of course is my silver jewellery blog, that I hope will firstly help ladies experiment with silver instead of yellow gold and then graduate to bold and statement pieces.  My hope is that there will be at least one convert who is willing to team up traditional jewellery pieces with western outfits! I am happy and confident to carry off a pair of jhumkas with a little black dress.  I simply love the look! 

My second blog was going to be called 'Nail Trail' on nail art.  Sounds very silly doesn't it? I still will do it some day!

The third one was going be 'This that and everything Indian'  A blog with information on traditional hand embroidery that India is known for, where to get kutch, kasuti, kantha embroidery done... the unbelievable kinds of silk and cotton fabrics with textures that are available from different parts of India..... the block printing in Indian motifs ... the brass and bronze ware .... jewellery boxes with inlay work and hand painted ones.....Indian culture and tradition..... festivals and food.... sarees and shopping!!! I hope some day I compile all the information and put it up so people in Indian and ones new to India can get their hands on everything they are looking for.