What Is Kundan Jewellery? The Craft Where Glass Can Outrank a Gemstone
Glass That Outranks a Gemstone
In most of the world, jewellery follows a simple hierarchy. The stone comes first.
The diamond is the investment. The emerald is the treasure. The sapphire is the thing being protected. Everything else exists to support it.
The gold frame is important, certainly. The craftsmanship matters. But ultimately, the setting serves the stone.
Kundan asks a completely different question.
What if the setting mattered more? What if the skill required to hold a stone in place was more valuable than the stone itself?
What if a piece set with glass could command more respect than another piece set with genuine gemstones?
At first, the idea sounds almost absurd. Until you understand how kundan is made.
Because kundan is one of the few jewellery traditions in the world where the true asset is not always the stone. Sometimes, it is the hand that placed it there.
Before Kundan Was Jewellery, It Was Craftsmanship
Long before modern jewellery stores began displaying gemstones beneath spotlights, Indian craftsmen were developing a very different approach to luxury.
The technique we now know as kundan can be traced back centuries, eventually reaching its most refined expression in the royal courts of Rajasthan and the Mughal Empire.
Kings commissioned it. Queens wore it. Imperial workshops perfected it.
But unlike many jewellery traditions that celebrated the stone above all else, kundan developed around a different idea.
Preservation.
Many gemstones available at the time were irregular, flat-backed, sliced, or entirely uncut. Rather than reshaping them into precise faceted forms, craftsmen developed a setting technique that adapted itself to the stone.
The setting became custom-made for every contour. Every edge. Every imperfection.
In doing so, the setting itself became an art form. And over centuries, that art form evolved into one of India's most celebrated jewellery traditions.
What Exactly Is Kundan Jewellery?
One of the most common misconceptions is that kundan refers to a type of stone. It does not.
Kundan is a setting technique.
More specifically, it is the art of securing stones using highly refined 24-karat gold foil.
Traditional kundan jewellery can feature rubies, emeralds, sapphires, polki diamonds, rock crystals, and even glass. What unites these pieces is not the material being set, but the way it is set.
The gold used in kundan is extraordinarily pure.
So pure, in fact, that it becomes remarkably pliable. Craftsmen work with thin layers of gold foil that can be pressed, shaped, and compacted around a stone entirely by hand.
No prongs. No claws. No visible mechanical supports. Just gold and patience.
The result is a setting that appears almost seamless, as though the stone emerged naturally from the gold itself.
How Kundan Jewellery Is Made
The process begins with a framework.
A gold structure is created and filled with lac, a natural resin that provides stability and support. The stones are then positioned carefully within the design. Only after this does the most remarkable stage begin.
Thin strips of highly refined gold foil are introduced around each stone. Using small hand tools, the craftsman presses the gold into every gap, every contour, every corner.
Layer by layer. Millimetre by millimetre. The gold gradually closes around the stone until the two appear inseparable. The setting is not soldered into place. It is compacted, shaped, persuaded.
This is what makes kundan so distinctive. The gold does not merely surround the stone. It adapts itself to the stone. The relationship feels less mechanical and more sculptural. And because every stone possesses slightly different dimensions, every setting becomes unique.
The Strange Case of Glass
This is where the story becomes truly interesting.
In Western fine jewellery, replacing a gemstone with glass is generally viewed as a reduction in value. The logic is straightforward. A diamond is worth more than glass. An emerald is worth more than glass. A ruby is worth more than glass. Case closed.
Kundan does not entirely agree.
Historically, master craftsmen often worked with coloured glass alongside precious stones. Through careful setting techniques, reflective foil backings, and meticulous craftsmanship, glass could be transformed into something visually extraordinary.
The objective was never deception. It was beauty.
And because the value of kundan lies heavily in the labour, the gold purity, and the setting expertise, a beautifully executed kundan piece containing glass can often be considered more valuable than a poorly crafted piece containing genuine but mediocre stones.
That is the inversion at the heart of kundan. The material alone does not determine value. Craftsmanship does. And in few jewellery traditions is that belief expressed so clearly.
Where Indian Jewellery Parts Ways With The West
The deeper you study kundan, the more you realise it represents a fundamentally different philosophy of luxury.
Western jewellery tends to organise value around the stone.
Gemological grading systems measure clarity, colour, cut, and carat weight. The gemstone becomes the primary asset.
The setting exists to support it. Kundan reverses that relationship. The gold itself becomes central. The artisan becomes central. The setting becomes central.
A craftsman may spend days refining the gold foil around a stone that, by conventional standards, might not be particularly rare.
Yet the finished piece carries enormous value because of the human skill embedded within it. The asset is not simply what was found in the earth.The asset is what happened after.
This is one of the reasons kundan remains uniquely Indian.
It reflects a cultural tradition that has long celebrated craftsmanship as much as material rarity. Perhaps even more.
Why Kundan And Polki Are Often Found Together
If polki is the stone, kundan is often the method that brings it to life.
Many of India's most celebrated bridal jewels combine both traditions.
Polki contributes the raw, uncut diamond. Kundan provides the setting. Together, they create the distinctive visual language associated with royal Indian jewellery.
The warm glow of uncut diamonds. The rich borders of pure gold. The sense of heritage that feels simultaneously regal and deeply personal. It is a partnership that has endured for centuries because each craft enhances the other.
One provides character. The other provides structure.
Why Kundan Still Matters Today
The modern jewellery market moves quickly. Collections change. Trends emerge. Preferences evolve. Yet kundan continues to hold its place. Partly because it is beautiful. Partly because it is historic.
But mostly because it reminds us that value is not always where we expect to find it. Sometimes value lies in the material. Sometimes it lies in rarity.
And sometimes it lies in the thousands of small decisions made by a craftsman working patiently with gold, stone, and time.
Kundan asks us to look beyond the gemstone. To notice the setting, the hand, the craft. And once you do, it becomes difficult to look at jewellery the same way again.
Why House of Menghraj Continues to Celebrate Kundan
At House of Menghraj, kundan is more than a traditional technique.
It is part of a larger philosophy that values craftsmanship as highly as material beauty.
Many pieces within our Polki Collection and Bridal Collection bring together the brilliance of polki diamonds with the refinement of traditional kundan setting. The result is jewellery that honours both stone and artisan equally.
For clients seeking something deeply personal, our bespoke jewellery experience allows these centuries-old techniques to be reinterpreted through individual stories, preferences, and heirloom inspirations.
The finest jewellery is rarely defined by its materials alone. It is defined by the craftsmanship that transforms them.
The Craft That Changed The Rules
Most jewellery traditions ask us to admire the stone.
Kundan asks us to admire the setting.
It transforms craftsmanship from a supporting role into the main event.
And it reminds us that sometimes the most valuable thing in a piece of jewellery is not what was mined from the earth. It is what a human hand chose to do with it.
Explore House of Menghraj
Discover handcrafted Polki jewellery, bridal heirlooms, and bespoke creations that celebrate the enduring artistry of kundan setting through generations of Indian craftsmanship.
House of Menghraj
Since 1931.
