Big Navratan Loose Stone Set

Jewellery details

A big navratan loose stone set: nine large loose stones on a kundan vine, each capped in gold.

Purity

18K gold

Technique

Kundan

Stones

Nine navratna drops, gold-capped; kundan-set white stones along the vine

A big navratan loose stone set is the nine grahas worn as a fringe — a jhalar — and kept big enough to read as nine separate stones from across a room. Nine polished drops hang from a vine of twisted gold wire, the ruby held centre and the other eight ranged either side of it in the fixed order, and every drop is capped in gold rather than clawed, so the loose stone itself is what catches the light. Between the caps the vine carries kundan-set white stones and seed pearls. Behind the shoulders the piece runs on a rope of seed pearl finished into a gold cap, which keeps the weight forward where the drops are. Made to order on one bench in Jaipur, in 18K gold.

24k gold foil pressed cold around each stone — no prongs. Every piece is made to order and built entirely by hand — weeks of work on a single bench, and no two come out quite alike.

Check it yourself: Kundan · Navaratna · BIS hallmark · IBJA gold rate · GTL Jaipur gem reports