Polki
Uncut-diamond aesthetic, reimagined as fashion jewellery.
Origin
Polki is the oldest form of diamond jewellery on the Indian subcontinent. Long before the round brilliant cut was developed in Antwerp in 1919, Indian goldsmiths were setting uncut natural diamonds — *polki* stones — in gold under the patronage of the same Mughal courts that perfected kundankari.
Mechanically polki is the close sister of kundan: same gold-foil-and-resin bezel, same Jaipur–Bikaner workshop lineage, same khudai stone-setting move. The single decisive difference in the traditional craft is the stone. Where kundan can use any uncut gem, polki specifies uncut natural *diamond*. The stone is mounted exactly as it came out of the earth: no facets, no symmetry, no laboratory enhancement. Light scatters across the natural surface — softer, milkier, more luminous than the sparkle of a brilliant cut.
Because each polki diamond is a one-of-one shape, the setter composes the layout around the stones as they arrive rather than working to a pre-cut template. A complex traditional polki necklace can take six to eight weeks of bench work for this reason.
In the historical craft, polki carries the deepest provenance signal of any Indian heritage technique — an uncut natural diamond cannot be lab-grown or foil-faked. Polki and kundan are routinely combined on the same piece, and that composite silhouette is what fashion-jewellery polki edits typically reinterpret.
Nandai reinterprets these traditional steps in fashion-jewellery materials — gold-plated brass settings, American-diamond and uncut-style stones, and kundan-polki composite silhouettes — making the heritage layout accessible at fashion-jewellery prices.
How a traditional Polki piece is made.
- Step 1 illustration is pending workshop photography.
Stone selection
In the traditional craft, uncut natural diamonds are sorted by size, shape, and clarity in Surat — each stone a one-of-one outline.
- Step 2 illustration is pending workshop photography.
Naksh · layout composition
Because no two polki stones are alike, the layout is composed around the stones rather than the stones cut to fit a template.
Khudai · seating
Each stone is seated in a gold-plated bed and held by a thin metal lip rolled over the girdle — the move polki shares with kundan.
- Step 4 illustration is pending workshop photography.
Chillai · polishing
The metalwork is polished and the reverse meena-painted; the stone face is left visually uncut to preserve the polki silhouette.
Our Polki-inspired edit.
The Polki-inspired shelf currently holds 1 piece. The atelier adds new sets gradually — every piece is hand-finished, so the cadence is intentional.
In the words of the master.
Polki is about the glow, not the sparkle. The silhouette is what the eye remembers. Set it for warm light — candlelight, golden-hour, tungsten.
Trained in traditional polki design, now crafting fashion-jewellery pieces that bring the silhouette to a wider audience.
TODO: commission a portrait + stone-selection trip footage from Surat with the named artisan.