In early September, I got a request to create some Kolam earrings. What started with one pair soon became a full blow order of two necklace-earring sets, one necklace and three pairs of earrings. It got me making jewellery for sale again. What made it both easy and hard was that, I was remaking/reimagining old designs as new picture jewellery designs. Here are the pieces.
Remaking old designs as new picture jewellery
The client selected a range of old designs – going back to as far as 2012 for me to recreate. After a round of discussions, we settled on viable options that were possible from the point of view of material availability. It was then I understood her intentions. She wanted the older (existing) concepts but not the same exact designs or pieces. With that began negotiations that are unique to a client-based design process. I followed the process that I have described in this post on how to customise jewellery for your clients based on their specific requirements.
Triplicane necklace 3.0
Based on the Triplicane necklace that I created earlier (find it in my research paper “Framing memories as picture jewelry.” The first use of that illustration in Temple Gopuram necklaces in Marabu Collection) I created another pendant and danglers for earrings. I added large flower shaped ear studs to the danglers to make earrings. While the white and red stripped bead in the original was integral to the concept, the client did not want it. So I created a double strand necklace with frosted red glass beads.
Thanjavur bommai necklace and earrings set
The Thanjavur bommai or dancing doll made in Thanjavur was an important motif in my 2021 Marabu collection. The 2021 necklace was made of a combination of glass beads, fabric beads and chain and used a more ornate bezel. This re-imagination follows the same colour combination for the doll image but uses agates and pumpkin quartz in different tints and shades of green.
Lakshmi Charm necklace
The form of Goddess Lakshmi, as I mentioned in my previous post on using antique images in jewellery, is a popular motif in Indian jewellery. As historian Devdutt Pattanaik says, “The image of Lakshmi flanked by elephants has endured for over 2,000 years because it captures a profound truth: wealth does not arise magically. It flows when capability meets opportunity.”
This client saw an image of a cord choker with three Lakshmi images that I had made in 2016/2017 and wanted the pictures but with colourful beads. Since we chose 10mm dyed agate beads for the necklace, I made the pictorial components bigger than the original. The client did not want the rhinestone embellishments used in the original but wanted some decorative element. Therefore, I choose bezels with rised borders and stamped dots. The images of Lakshmi are prints of the artist Raja Ravi Varma, which I first used in my Chitiram collection in 2012.
Kolam Earrings
Circling back to what got this order started, I show you the kolam earrings X.0. I must admit that I have made tens of kolam earrings before. However, these are different. Due to the paper used and making process, they have a subtle glitter-like glow that makes them a great accessory for festive occasions. These earrings also use gold plated stainless studs that are tarnish resistant. Unfortunately the online store that stocked them closed their jewellery section and I would love to find new sources of such studs. I wish so many stores did not close down.
Anyway, I hope that the client has fun wearing them during Diwali and on other holidays. I am grateful to her for getting me out of my funk and setting me straight on the jewelry making path.
I would like to know if you reimagine your older designs or wish that a brand that you love remakes their older pieces. Tell me in the comments. Until then, I Wish all of you a joyous Diwali and festive season with your loved ones!
I hope you find it interesting
Cheers
What do you think?