Jadau jewellery is the whole Jaipur tradition in one piece — *jad* means to embed. A 22K gold frame is filled with lac, each stone is pressed into it and held by a collar of 24K kundan foil, and meena enamel is fired onto the back. Every piece we make is here, from the full jadau bridal set to chokers, chandbalis, maang tikka, the Rajputi ponchi and hasli, navratna and polki work. Nothing is stock: each piece is made to order, and the price breakup is shared privately on WhatsApp.
Jadau, explained
What is Jadau jewellery?
Jadau jewellery is the Jaipur tradition of embedding stones into gold rather than gripping them with prongs. A 22K gold frame is filled with warm lac, each stone is pressed into it, and a collar of 24-karat gold foil is worked up round its edge until it holds — the kundan. Coloured enamel is then fired onto the back, the meena. Frame, lac, kundan, meena: all four together are jadau.
Most “jadau” sold online is gold-plated brass — costume jewellery, fine for a sangeet. Ours is gold, priced by its net gold weight at today’s rate, its stones and its making, and made by five hands in our Johari Bazar workshop. Our guide to Kundan jewellery shows how one piece is made, and Polki vs Kundan sorts out the three words.
- BIS hallmarked gold, with HUID
- 22K · 18KBIS hallmarked gold, with HUID
- the kundan round every stone
- 24K foilthe kundan round every stone
- weighed out, never priced as gold
- Lac coreweighed out, never priced as gold
- made in our Johari Bazar workshop
- To ordermade in our Johari Bazar workshop
Real gold Jadau, or plated?
Both are sold as “jadau”. Only one of them is gold.
| Check | Gold Jadau · ours | Plated “jadau” |
|---|---|---|
| Metal | 22K gold frame, 24K kundan foil | Brass or copper, gold-plated |
| Core | Lac, poured warm and set hard | Hollow, resin or glue |
| Back | Meena enamel, fired in a kiln | Paint, a foil sticker or bare metal |
| Stones | Polki, rubies, emeralds — glass only where a design says so | Glass or CZ |
| Hallmark | BIS mark, 22K916 and a six-digit HUID | None |
| Priced by | Net gold weight at the day’s rate, stones and making | One fixed price |
| Lasts | Generations; can be reset and restrung | Until the plating wears |
Is Jadau jewellery real gold?
It can be either, so ask. Ours is: every piece is made in 22K or 18K gold with 24K kundan foil and carries the BIS hallmark with a six-digit HUID, which you can check yourself in the BIS Care app. Most jadau sold cheaply online is gold-plated brass or copper with glass stones and a painted back.
Is Jadau the same as Kundan?
Jadau is the whole tradition — the gold frame, the lac core, the kundan setting and the meena behind. Kundan is one step inside it: the collar of 24K foil that holds each stone. So every kundan piece is jadau work, while jadau also covers the lac, the frame and the enamel. Polki is a stone, not a method. Polki vs Kundan lays the three side by side.
Why is Jadau made in Jaipur?
The craft came south with the Mughal court and settled here: Jaipur had the stone cutters, the enamellers and the goldsmiths in one bazaar, and it still does. A single piece passes through four or five pairs of hands within a few streets of each other — the frame maker, the stone setter, the enameller, the stringer. That is why jadau never industrialised, and why the work is still quoted by the piece.
What should I look at on the back of a Jadau piece?
The back is where the truth is. On real jadau you will see fired meena — glassy colour sunk into carved gold, with slight unevenness where the kiln took it — not flat paint and not a bare stamped plate. The edges of each setting should be smooth gold, worked by hand. If the back is plain metal, a sticker, or perfectly uniform colour, the piece is not jadau.
Can a Jadau set be made to my design?
Yes. We make every piece ourselves, so any design here can change — the stones, the colours of the meena, the weight of gold — or be drawn from your photo or sketch. Send your wedding date with your first message so the work is planned around it. Who we are.