Kundan (Hindi: कुंदन, refined gold) is the traditional Indian jewellery technique of setting gemstones in highly purified gold foil rather than in cast or fabricated bezels. The technique uses the cold-malleability of 24-karat gold to encase the perimeter of the stone, eliminating both heat treatment and metallic claws, and is one of the defining techniques of north-Indian fine jewellery from the Mughal period to the present.

Method

The structural body of a kundan piece is generally fabricated in lower-karat gold, hammered or stamped into a hollow shell or domed form. The interior is filled with lac, a natural resin that hardens upon cooling and provides a stable seat for the stone. The gemstone is pressed into the lac while soft, and pure 24-karat gold is then hammered as foil between the stone and the surrounding wall. The foil is layered repeatedly until the bezel achieves its full height and contour. Because the gold is pure, it cold-flows under pressure and bonds to itself with each successive layer, producing the smooth, mirror-bright bezel that is characteristic of kundan work.

Stones used in kundan tradition are generally polished but not modern brilliant-cut. Flat-backed and shallow-domed stones, often polki (uncut or minimally cut diamond), polished cabochons, irregular natural shapes, and historic Mughal-cut stones are most common. The gold foil setting accommodates virtually any outline and any thickness, which is one of the principal practical advantages of the technique over fabricated claw or bezel settings.

Historical development

Kundan originates in the courts of the Mughal Empire (sixteenth to nineteenth centuries) and was particularly developed in the workshops of Jaipur, Bikaner and Delhi. The technique is closely associated with the parallel tradition of meenakari (vitreous enamel applied to the reverse of jewellery), and many high-end kundan pieces are kundan-meenakari: stones set with kundan on the front, vitreous enamel decoration on the back. The combination produces a piece that reads as ornamental on either side, suitable for the layered Indian court jewellery tradition where pieces were often turned, removed and re-pinned.

By the nineteenth century, kundan had become the standard fine technique throughout the Punjab, Rajasthan and Hyderabad. The technique was disrupted by the decline of court patronage and the importation of European casting and claw-setting in the colonial period, but survived in the great jewellery houses of Jaipur and Bikaner, particularly in the workshops of Amrapali, Sunita Shekhawat, Munnu, Tarang, and the family ateliers of Nagaur and Jodhpur.

Modern practice

Kundan has experienced a strong revival in Indian and diaspora jewellery from the 1980s onward, supported by the Indian wedding market and by international interest in polki diamonds. Contemporary high-end Indian houses (Sunita Shekhawat, Amrapali, Hazoorilal, Tarang) produce kundan and kundan-meenakari at scale, alongside a substantial commercial-grade trade in lower-karat gold, lac-filled construction with diamonds and synthetic spinels.

Strict traditional kundan uses 24-karat gold throughout the foil layer, but commercial pieces often substitute 22-karat or 18-karat alloys, particularly in export goods bound for jurisdictions where 24-karat is impractical. The Indian retail market draws sharp distinctions between true kundan, lower-quality imitation kundan, and manufactured-bezel pieces marketed under the same name.

Trade considerations

For Western dealers, kundan jewellery raises specific issues. The lac-filled construction is sensitive to heat: pieces should never be steamed, ultrasonically cleaned, or exposed to torch repair without a specialist. Stones are not held by claws or modern bezels and can fall out if the foil bezel is damaged, requiring specialist re-foiling rather than conventional re-setting. Hallmarking varies: the body alloy may be marked while the foil layer is not, and metal-content statements should be read carefully.

The technique is also of interest because it accommodates stones whose shape, profile or condition would make them difficult to set by Western methods. Antique Mughal-cut diamonds, irregular natural-shape emeralds, and historic table-cut stones are all routinely re-set in kundan when restored or remounted in their tradition.