Open Setting Polki Jewellery is characterised by uncut diamonds (also known as flat diamonds or diamond polkies) and gemstones (dominantly rubies or emeralds) set with their back side open and NOT filled with wax or lac (laakh). To help you understand better, here's a picture of this open setting earring's back side:
In this technique, 'rings' of metal are created to fit each stone as it has been set in the mosaic pattern. The rings are then connected to each other by manual linking and then the stones are set, giving a very western appeal, as visible in the front side of the tops we saw above:
Developed in the 18th century, this style was not widely used until the Victorian Era but has picked up in recent times, primarily because:
- Being open from the back allows the light to be transmitted through the stones from front to back, giving them high transparency and lustre
- It's technique of placing the diamond polkies without any support of wax, results in a very lightweight piece, unlike traditional kundan meena
- No wax is used as an adhesive in ornaments made in open setting style, which makes it very transparent, letting anyone can calculate the actual gold weight in any piece of jewellery just from it's gross weight
We hope that you found this information useful!
In case of any questions, please reach out to us - happy to help!