Kundan vs Polki: a side-by-side that finally clears the confusion.
Both involve uncut stones. Only one uses foil. Here is what to look for.
Kundan and Polki are the two Indian jewellery traditions most often confused — even by people who own pieces. The confusion is reasonable: traditionally both involve uncut stones, both originated under Mughal patronage, and both are still made in workshops that have not changed their fundamental method in 200 years. The difference, however, is decisive.
Polki, in the traditional craft, is a setting of uncut natural diamonds. The diamond arrives at the workshop in roughly the shape geology gave it — the cleavage planes are honoured, the stone is cleaned, and it is mounted in 22-karat gold. There is no foil behind the stone. What you see is the stone in its natural geometry, with light passing through whatever natural facets nature provided.
Kundan, in contrast, can traditionally use *any* uncut stone — diamond, but more often coloured — and the secret is the foil. A sheet of 24-karat gold foil (kundan = "pure gold") is hand-cut and burnished against the back of the stone, which gives Kundan its signature reflective shimmer. The foil bounces light back through the stone, producing the warm interior glow Kundan is famous for.
A practical test on a traditional piece: hold it up to indirect light. Polki will refract — you will see the natural facets of the stone catching light unevenly, the way a diamond crystal does. Kundan will reflect — there is a mirror behind every stone, doing the work the foil was hand-cut to do.
How Nandai reinterprets both. Nandai is a fashion / imitation jewellery house — our Kundan-inspired edit uses kundan-style coloured glass on gold-plated brass, and our Polki-inspired edit uses American-diamond (CZ) accents in the same uncut-stone silhouette. The bench labour is identical to the heritage technique; the materials are fashion-tier. Not solid gold, not real diamonds, not BIS-Hallmarked — and explicit about it.
Both silhouettes are alive in Jaipur. The atelier we work with runs both lines in parallel. If you are buying for the first time, here is the heuristic we give friends: Kundan-inspired is for *evening light*, Polki-inspired is for *daylight*. Match the silhouette to where you will actually wear the piece.
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