You’d be hard-pressed to identify a celebrity bride who didn’t wear polki jewellery for her wedding celebrations— , and Anushka Sharma and Neha Dhupia chose it for their respective wedding days as well. The centuries-old technique of hand-crafting uncut diamonds into fine jewellery, a speciality of Bikaner in Rajasthan, dates back to the Mughal era. Today, these pieces are viewed as trousseau must-haves and heirloom-worthy investments for your personal collection.
The showcased a dazzling array of polki jewellery, highlighting the timeless beauty of these uncut diamonds. Radhika Merchant wore a variety of polki pieces, starting with her custom bandhani lehenga, with which she paired a polki choker for the Mameru ceremony. Her sequin saree at the sangeet was accented with moissanite polkis, while her rust pink lehenga at the was complemented by a stunning polki necklace and matching earrings.
graced the wedding festivities with an iconic polki necklace, featuring six coin-sized diamonds. For the night, Isha Ambani borrowed her mother's polki neckpiece laced with huge emerald drops, pairing it with matching pearl and polki earrings. stylist, Sukriti Grover, added a unique twist by weaving a polki and gold flowers into her braid during Anant Ambani's baraat ceremony.
Jaipur-based legacy brand is one of the oldest jewellery houses from the city, and has often been credited with reinventing traditional polki designs for the modern connoisseur. We spoke to the label’s creative director, Yash Agarwal, to get a microscopic look at the craft. Excerpts below.
Polki is an uncut and unpolished diamond, used in its natural form without any physical or chemical treatment. Often retained in their original rough version, they have a non-faceted polished surface, and are generally cut to follow the original structure of the stone. This is why no two pieces are alike, making each polki distinctive and unique.
It is, in fact, one of the oldest forms of cut diamonds, originating in India long before western cutting methods were born. Since they are the purest form of diamonds available, polkis are extremely expensive. The fact that these designs are often enhanced with precious stones and add to its value as well.
At Birdhichand, we work with techniques like jadau, badroom and takkar—each one requires different skill set, and provides distinct end results too. Jadau, the Hindi word for embedding, refers to jewellery where polki diamonds are placed on a silver or gold foil, lending them a brilliant shine when they reflect light. The badroom setting is a tulle pattern where polkis are packed with 24K gold following a jaali pattern.
The takkar polki setting involves arranging embedded polkis edge to edge with one another, without the use of any metal packing. This craft requires a great amount of skill and dedication, and each piece takes days or even months to be completed, depending on the intricacy of the design. The takkar technique requires approximately one or two months per piece, as the polkis need to be cut and polished to the same shape and size.
Jewellery is not just about gold anymore. Customers now also bestow their patronage on polki and kundan jewellery to pass on to future generations. Aesthetically pleasing designs highlighting traditional floral and animal motifs are very popular.
Since polki jewellery is made using uncut diamonds in their natural forms, each and every piece exudes an old-world charm. are an important part of polki jewellery as well, owing to the significance of the colour red in Indian society. Though emeralds are the most preferred choice to accentuate designs because of their availability, followed by sapphires.
We at Birdhichand also use rose-cut diamonds and pearls to create all-white pieces. Polki jewellery has a touch of rich heritage coupled with timelessness. Being one of the oldest forms of traditional jewellery, owning a piece of polki jewellery is considered a valuable addition to an Indian woman’s .
There is a piece of polki jewellery typical to different cultures. For instance, Rajputi brides prefer stiff necklaces. Chokers layered with long haars or heavy round necklaces are popular choices, and statement earrings such as Kashmiri jhumkas and kanser are perennial favourites with today’s young brides.
The recent interest in ancient Indian crafts has led to the revival of polki jewellery. We weave our collections with historic connections by taking inspiration from royalty and then reimagining designs with our signature craftsmanship. We marry age-old traditional techniques with modern silhouettes in pastel hues.
Each collection thinks beyond trends and is spruced with precious gems like Mughal-carved rubies, classic rose-cut diamonds, old European-cut diamonds, pink sapphires and natural pearls. We have an in-house designing, manufacturing and production unit in . Our skilled team of artisans and smiths have learnt the craft from their preceding generations.
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