handcarved elegance | ancient symbolism

Throughout history jewellery has been used to display importance and power but also to commemorate significant, sentimental connections and beliefs.  Handcarved gemstones or Intaglia were used by important figures in Roman Greco tradition as symbolic talismen or mementoes, and to transfer authority through use with a sealed wax stamp, long before there were such things as written signatures.

The origin of carved gemstones can be traced to the Sumerian period in Mesopotamia. Seals were used in the Ancient Near East from about 3400BC for over three thousand years, with primarily softer gemstones being used. Harder gemstones were later used to aide the craftsman in cutting more precise detail into the stones and to ensure the work would last.

The carvers we use in Rajasthan still use the exact same techniques they did all those thousands of years ago; intricate hand carved detail with the assistance of a cutting wheel and drill , driven by a bow or foot wheel.