Jadau, kundan, polki — what's the difference?

Kundan, polki, jadau — three names that appear together in almost every Indian-bridal-jewellery catalogue and are routinely used interchangeably. They are not the same thing. Each describes a distinct technical move at the setter's bench, and a buyer who knows the difference can read a piece on sight. A short comparison, in plain language.

Jadau is the umbrella term. The word comes from the Hindi jadana — "to embed" — and refers broadly to any technique of setting uncut stones in molten or rolled gold. Both kundan and polki are jadau techniques. Calling a piece "jadau" is roughly equivalent to calling a Western piece "set with stones" — accurate but unspecific. When you see a piece labelled "Jadau bridal set" in a catalogue, that tells you the stones are uncut, but not which sub-technique was used to set them. Most sellers use "jadau" as a marketing term that papers over the kundan-versus-polki distinction.

Kundan is the foil-and-glass-or-quartz technique. In traditional kundan, a sheet of 24-karat gold foil is hand-cut and burnished against the back of every stone, and the stone is typically coloured glass or polished quartz rather than diamond. The foil acts as a mirror; light reflects back through the stone, producing the warm, bright sparkle that defines kundan. The visual signature is discrete bright highlights where the foil catches studio or candle light. The historical association is the Mughal court (Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan) and the courts of Jaipur and Bikaner that inherited the technique. Most "kundan-style" pieces sold today are this variant.

Polki is the no-foil-and-uncut-diamond technique. In traditional polki, the stone is an uncut natural diamond, and there is no foil behind it. The stone's natural surface scatters light across its full area, producing the milky-luminous glow that defines polki. The visual signature is diffuse, even highlights across the stone — no discrete bright spots. The historical association is the Surat-Jaipur diamond-trading axis of the 18th and 19th centuries, when the Indian uncut-diamond market was the largest in the world.

How to tell them apart in person. Hold the piece up to indirect light, half a metre from a window or candle. Polki refracts: you will see the natural facets of the stone catching light unevenly. Kundan reflects: there is a mirror behind every stone, doing exactly the work the foil was hand-cut to do. In photographs, the giveaway is the highlight pattern — polki highlights are diffuse and milky, kundan highlights are bright and discrete. A jeweller's loupe shows the foil behind kundan stones immediately; polki stones show only the natural diamond surface.

How to tell them apart in writing. Read the product description carefully. "Polki" with the word "diamond" in the same sentence is the only claim that warrants the polki label honestly. "Polki" without "diamond" is almost always polki-style — engineered glass cut to look like uncut diamond. "Kundan" almost always refers to the foil-and-glass variant unless explicitly paired with "real" or "natural diamond" (rare, and at a precious-metal price point). "Jadau" is a category label, not a technique claim — read further to find out what is actually in the piece.

Our line. Nandai sells kundan-style and polki-style pieces in fashion-jewellery materials: gold-plated brass base, kundan-style coloured glass, American-diamond accents, kiln-fired meenakari where the design calls for it. We never use the word "kundan" or "polki" without the "-style" or "-inspired" suffix because the suffix carries the materials disclosure the customer is entitled to read. The silhouette is the heritage technique; the materials are wardrobe-tier. The label says exactly that.