Best 10 Jewelry Types – Complete Guide on Jewelry Types

There are several types of jewelry and the classification is done based on the design, tradition, material used, and gemstones placed in the jewelry. Every piece of jewelry has unique features, some have a very rich history and some designs represent the makers' and the country's heritage. Some jewelry pieces carry the traditions of a certain caste or tribe or even an entire religion. You can check out the other blogs on our website to know about every type of jewelry available.

In this article we will discuss the top 10 jewelry types and what makes them unique. These include jewelry types from different origins, enriched with a unique history, and made of various valuable materials.

The 10 best types of jewelry are as follows:Antique Jewelry

While the terms 'antique Jewelry' and 'vintage Jewelry' are used interchangeably, the difference is in the time period. Jewelry is considered to be antique when it is a hundred years old or more. A piece of vintage Jewelry is at least fifty years old and in designs that are classic and never 'go out of fashion. Usually, antique Jewelry is too rare and valuable to be worn regularly, but vintage Jewelry is worn as a fashion statement by people who have access to them.

We hear a lot about antique Jewelry these days. Genuine antique or vintage Jewelry is quite rare and not easy to come by. That is why such Jewelry is expensive. When a piece of antique Jewelry does become available for sale, the price you will pay is not so much for the actual weight of the precious metal it is made of and/or the gemstones it is studded with.

Temple Jewelry

Temple Jewelry is the name given to the Jewelry worn by Bharatnatyam dancers. This kind of Jewelry is inspired by ornaments used to decorate the idols of Hindu gods and goddesses in South India. These are ornate and employ traditional motifs of peacocks, parrots, fishes or images of gods like Ganesha and Lakshmi. Temple Jewelry is made in silver and then plated in gold. It is usually stone-studded using rubies, emeralds, white sapphires and pearls and includes ornate as well as simple necklaces, bangles, earrings and nose-pins, besides odia nums (waist belts), vankis (armbands) and talai saaman, jadai naagam, billai, etc. (ornaments for the hair).

There are two kinds of temple Jewelry in the market today - pieces made in gold and set with authentic gemstones, and gold-plated pieces made in silver and set with synthetic rubies, diamonds and emeralds. The second variety is obviously more affordable.

Bead Jewelry

A bead is a small decorative object formed into a variety of shapes with a hole pierced into it for treading or stringing. Beads are found in a wide variety of materials from paper, glass and wood to metals such as gold, silver, brass, copper, etc. Beads have been worn as Jewelry the world over in virtually every culture since time immemorial.

Pearls and coral beads are organic in composition while many precious and semi-precious gemstone beads are formed of minerals. Beads are worn in strands by themselves or used to embellish necklaces and earrings.

Bridal Jewelry

As obvious as the name suggests, when we speak of bridal Jewelry, we are referring to serious Jewelry, big pieces that are heavy and/or ornate. In every culture, the bride is the focus of attention in a wedding - it is, after all, her big day- followed by the bride and groom's immediate family.

In India, parents begin to collect Jewelry for the bride from the time she is born.

In south India, bridal Jewelry typically includes the odyanum (waist belt), kasu mala, mangai mala, nethi chutti, vanki, jada naagam, addigai, kaapu, nosepin, metti (toe rings) anklets.

In the North, where a bride is adorned with solah shringar or sixteen items of adornment, her Jewelry would include maang teeka, baju band, haar, kangan, bichchu, payal, rings, jhumka, and kamar band.

Fashion Jewelry

Custom Jewelry, also known as fashion Jewelry, junk Jewelry, fake or faux Jewelry or 'fallalery', are inexpensive accessories that are used to look fashionable without costing much. These are meant to complement a fashionable outfit or costume.

Fine Jewelry is expensive and one worries about carrying them around or allowing children and teenagers to handle them. Essentially, fashion Jewelry is faux Jewelry and the exact opposite of fine Jewelry which is made of silver, gold, or platinum and/or studded with precious or semi-precious gemstones.

Cheaper metals such as nickel and pewter are used to make fashion Jewelry which often has a light plating of gold or silver to give it a 'real' look.

Strictly speaking, there is a distinction between costume and fashion Jewelry. Costume Jewelry became popular in the West in the 1930s. Fine Jewelry is expensive and has mostly been passed on from mother to daughter. For the purpose of safety, these designs were reproduced in brass and plated with gold or silver. Synthetic stones or similar stones (spinels for rubies, green onyx for emeralds, rhinestones and white sapphires for diamonds) were used in such reproductions.

Filigree Jewelry

The term 'filigree' is derived from the Latin 'filum' (thread) and 'granum' (grain).

Filigree Jewelry is intricately worked gold or silver Jewelry with fine bead work and delicate twisted 'threads' or wires soldered to gold or silver to form artistic motifs. Commonly found in Indian and Asian Jewelry, this craft form was also popular in Italy and French metalwork between 1660 and 1900.

Although filigree work has become a special style of Jewelry, such work was historically considered part of the skill-set any goldsmith worth his salt would possess. In India, granulation in filigree work is called rawa kaam, while wire-work is called tarkashi kaam.

Handmade Jewelry

India boasts of a long and rich tradition of beautiful hand-crafted Jewelry. The craftsman (known as achari or karigar) in India makes Jewelry by hand even today, with skills passed down from father to son for several centuries.

Traditionally, the goldsmith was also the craftsman and would be skilled in all Jewelry-making functions from start to finish - melting the gold, designing and forming, setting stones and polishing the jewel. The process is laborious and time-consuming, and requires special tools to produce Jewelry which is unique and not mass-produced. The beauty of handmade Jewelry lies in the fine detail and intricate workmanship of each piece.

In India, you will see an astonishing variety of handmade Jewelry - temple, jadau and Kundan work, with and without gemstones, with intricate filigree work or amazing repousse, chasing and stamping work (nakshi kaam).

In contrast to handmade Jewelry is the modern machine-made or casting Jewelry, where the entire process of manufacturing a piece of Jewelry is mechanised and generally produced in bulk.

Kundana Jewelry

Kundan, in Sanskrit, means 'pure gold'.

When we speak of Kundana Jewelry, we are actually referring to a style of setting gems - usually uncut diamonds or polkis - using 24 carat gold foil.

In modern diamond Jewelry, prongs are used to hold the gemstone. In Kundana Jewelry, 24k gold foil is used between the mount and the stone. Other gems commonly seen in the Kundana setting are emeralds, rubies, sapphires, spinels and pearls. Modern Kundana pieces sport semi-precious stones such as tourmalines, onyx and turquoise.

Although Kundana Jewelry is made in various parts of India, Jaipur is perhaps the best-known centre for such Jewelry. The specialty of Kundana Jewelry made in Rajasthan and Gujarat is the stunning minakari or enamel work on the reverse of the jewel. Kundana Jewelry made in south India does not sport such enamelling.

Due to the high cost of Kundana Jewelry studded with diamonds, a lot of jadau Jewelry today uses flat pieces of glass instead of diamonds.

Polki Jewelry

This style of Jewelry was introduced in India by the Moghuls.

Polki is the name used for uncut, flat-cut or rose-cut diamonds. These are not as thick as regular-cut and faceted diamonds (such as round brilliants) nor do they sparkle so much. It follows, then, that polkis cost less than brilliant diamonds. The polki is also called valandi and typically used in jadau/jadtar/Kundana Jewelry.

Nowadays, in order to make Kundana Jewelry more affordable and within the reach of more people, we use glass instead of polkis/uncut diamonds.

Minakari Jewelry

Minakari - derived from the Persian words mina or heaven, and minoo or the azure blue sky, is the Indian art of enameling metal with vibrant colors and beautiful designs. It is similar to cloisonné work used to decorate Jewelry. Cloisonné work has been popular for a long time in Western Asia, China, and some parts of Europe. What we know today as minakari enameling is thought to have been brought to India from Iran.

The craftsman or minakari melts metal oxides with finely-powdered glass to form the desired color. This is then applied to the surface of the metal in the chosen design and fired in a kiln to set. Minakari work is done in various centers in India and each has its own distinct style and use of colors. For example, in Varanasi, the dominant minakari color is a dusky pink or 'old rose'. In Lucknow, greens and blues are enameled on silver.

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