Meenakari Jewelry

Meenakari is regarded as one of the most famous art forms of India. However it is mistaken that this form originated in India. Meenakari originated in Persia and it was introduced to India by the Mughals. Raja Maan Singh invited Lahore – based skilled artisans to his kingdom and had a Meenakari centre established in Jaipur. 

Meenakari is a team work which requires specialization of skill. As it is generally done on the reverse side of kundan jewellery, meenakar has to work with goldsmith, engraver, designer or chitteria as well as the stone-setter.

  

Meenakari is an enamelling work done on metal. Craftsmen involved with Meenakari creations are known as Meenakars. Higher end Meena jewellery is made of gold while the lower end products are made from silver.

Designs of flowers, birds, leaves etc are engraved on the metal. This leads to the creation of walls or grooves, to hold colour. Once this engraving is done, the Meenakar applies different colours with brushes on the design. Then the ornament is fired at a high temperature. The furnace heat melts the colour which spreads evenly. Once the entire process is finished, the art is polished with corundum and again placed in fire to make it stronger.

To step forward into the Jewellery Designing Industry enroll into our online jewellery designing courses Bangalore and visit Solitaire Diamond Institute Bangalore.

Article by-Shehnaz, 

JD Student @ SDI

23 Amazing Facts About Gold

1.    If all of the existing gold in the world was pulled into a 5 micron thick wire, it could wrap around the world 11.2 million times.

2.   The boiling point of gold is 2808 degrees centigrade.

3.   There are just over 31.103 grams in a troy ounce of gold.

Largest Gold Coin

4.   The troy ounce (oz t) is a unit of imperial measure, now used for the mass of precious metals.

5.   It is difficult to find a 1 ounce nugget of gold than a five carat diamond.

6.   A gold nugget is a naturally occurring piece of native gold.

7.   The temperature of the human body is 37 degrees centigrade. Gold’s conductivity of heat means that it rapidly reaches body temperature – one of the reasons it has become valued for jewellery.

8.   Gold melts at 1064 degrees centigrade.

9.   More than 175,000 tonnes of gold has been mined since the beginning of civilisation.

10. While digging up stones to build a house, Australian miner George Harrison found gold ore near Johannesburg in 1885, beginning the South African gold rush

11. All of the gold ever mined would fit into a crate of 21 metres cubed.

12. Around half of all gold mined today is made into jewellery, which remains the single largest use for gold

13. The 40,000 miners who joined the California Gold Rush in 1849 were called “49ers”. Only a very small number of them ever got rich.

14. Over 90 per cent of the world’s gold has been mined since the California Gold Rush.

15. Gold is often alloyed with other metals to change its colour and strength. Eighteen karat gold is composed of 750 parts of pure gold per 1,000.

16. The largest gold coin ever created was cast by the Perth Mint in 2012. Weighing one tonne and measuring 80 cm in diameter, it surpassed the previous record, a 2007, C$1 million coin which was just 53 cm across.

17. One ounce of gold can be stretched to a length of 50 miles; the resulting wire would be just 5 microns wide.(1 micron=0.001 mm)

18. The largest ever true gold nugget weighted 2316 troy ounces(72,034  gms i.e, almost 72.034 kg )when found at Moliagul in Australia in 1869. It was called the “Welcome Stranger”.

19. The atomic number of gold is 79, which means there are 79 protons in the nucleus of every atom metal.

20. A “London Good Delivery Bar”, the standard unit of traded gold, is made from 400 troy ounces(12.4 kg) of gold.

21. The US Federal Reserve holds 6,700 tonnes of gold, in 530,000 gold bars. At its peak in 1973, the Fed stored more than 12,000 tonnes of monetary gold.

22. There are 147.3 million ounces – around 4,600 tonnes – of gold stored in the US Bullion Depository at Fort Knox.

23. 1 ounce of pure gold can be hammered into a single sheet 9 metres square.

Article Credit - World Gold Council

For exciting career in Jewellery Designing Industry, get enrolled into SDI's Certificate in Gold Appraisal.

Article By

Krupa J.S.

CAD Designer, SDI

Top 9 Jewellery Designing Insights from India International Jewellery Show 2015

IIJS  2015 exhibited experimenting with lots of stones specially Cabochons, as we tend to use more of faceted gems rather than non faceted ones. And also to the versatility of sliver as base metal.The whole exhibit was divided into different categories which were spread across 4 halls -

• Diamond Section
• Loose Gemstone Section
• Jewellery Section
• Machinery Section.

1. The common element in designs noticeable repeated several times across different Jewellers was - The Concept of Concave Shape.
2. It was used in different textures like Filigree, Sand Blast and even gems were placed inside the shape giving an excellent imitation of lotus flower.
3. There was another display which had placed their jewellery piece on two sheets, which were butter sheet and vellum sheet over lapping each other in such a way that when someone views it, he/she can actually see the design created by the designer and the final product.
4. Then in the Loose Gems section, we came across loose pearls. 
5. Then there was Swarovski stall. They were selling the stones at the rate of INR 50 per stone of 0.02 cts. One packet contains 500 stones.
6. There were some stalls which dealt exclusively in Sterling Silver.
7. Cabochons can stand on its own, against the glittering cut stones. 
8. Particularly fire opal used as centre piece in pendants. And also painted pearls.
9. Turquoise is another gem which is attractive when put together creatively.

Finally, take a look at some of the Unique Jewellery at IIJS 2015:

IIJS 2015 perfectly showcased different styles of jewellery, loose gems and interesting new trends.

To step forward into the Jewellery Designing Industry enroll into our online jewellery designing courses Bangalore and visit Solitaire Diamond Institute Bangalore.

Coral Carving: A Traditional Art

Coral is one of the “organic gemstones,” the other main ones being pearls and amber. Made out of calcium carbonate that’s secreted by organisms known as polyps, coral is mostly found in tropical oceans, where colonies of polyps are jammed together to create reefs.

Coral is often fashioned into round, barrel-shaped, or oblong beads, as well as cabochons in necklaces and rings. Sometimes coral is left in its natural state, and sometimes carved with a beautiful design.

Carved Rose

There are basically two productive sectors: plain coral and carved coral.


PLAIN CORAL

Plain coral is used in serial Production, which used to be subdivided into the round coral and factory coral.

Carved Ganesha

As is the case with plain coral, coral carving entails sawing, filing, cutting, burning and lathing off material from the object concerned.


CARVED CORAL

Coral carving enables us to obtain products of various shapes. No matter how complex and unpredictable these shapes can be, we can make real sculptures sometimes.

Neckpiece

Carved coral are making a comeback as the perfect example of modern technology borrowing ancient techniques. Long ago, corals were designed into many different shapes, designs and symbols rather than smooth and shiny gemstones. The art of carving coral has been a tradition for many years and has been practiced by many artisans all over the world.

To learn more about online jewellery designing courses Bangalore visit Solitaire Diamond Institute Bangalore.


Article by
Krupa J.S.
CAD Designer,SDI