Making of Lai

Making of Lai header

Every piece of our silver jewelry is handcrafted in 92.5% silver. To make silver durable enough for use in jewelry, pure silver, which has a .999 fineness (99.9%), is often alloyed with small quantities of copper (7.5%) to provide strength- resulting in the industry standard of .925 'Sterling Silver' (92.5%). Our designs bear a '925' stamp to indicate the purity and also a 'Lai' stamp to authenticate their origin.

It takes a lot to manifest these pieces into works of art.

rava work granulation work. handcrafted jewelry

Granulation or rava work: Each 'rava' or granule is applied to the desired spot with the help of tweezers.

soldering and crafting handmade sterling silver jewelry. Handmade in India by Lai

Left: Heating the metal to solder- notice the long narrow mouth pipe used to direct the air flow- how remarkably similar it is to the one used centuries ago, by the goldsmith in the vintage sepia picture above. Right: Adding wire work to the base units.

Bidri jewelry in making. Handmade sterling silver jewelry by Lai

Setting the 'Bidri' units onto silver jewelry units.

Bidri jewelry in making. Handmade sterling silver jewelry by Lai

Removing excess metal around the collet after stone setting.

Setting rubies in enameled bead. Handmade sterling silver jewelry by Lai

Enameling and stone setting on a bead.

Pave setting seed pearls individually by hand. Handmade sterling silver jewelry by Lai

Individually pave' setting seed pearls onto a bangle.

hammering and shaping silver sheet style=

Hammering sheet metal into shape.

Each Lai piece, thus created, using a mix of traditional and modern techniques, is further finished as per design (glossy, matt, oxidized etc.), thoroughly inspected, and carefully packed before its on its way to you.

Sale

Unavailable

Sold Out