the manufacture of lakh jewelry, lac jewellery is a real  cottage

A centuries old tradition. Lakh jewelry comes from the Indian state of Rajasthan. It takes the work of many specialists and around 16 hours to produce a single piece, the manufacture of lakh jewelry is a real "cottage industry" involving families and friends.

As each piece goes through the various stages of production, it moves from house to house to the various specialists along the ancient streets of Rajasthan.

Begins with a Beetle. Lac is a natural resin secreted by an insect onto branches. The Lac is harvested by villagers and melted, cleaned and stretched into thin straw-like strands (the thinning of the lac is explained later).

The Lac isnt visible on the piece as it is used to fill the segments, making the pieces strong and solid in feel. The exterior surfaces of enameled silver or foil cover the hardened lac.

And a great old design . . a metal die which may be used for years is used to make each piece segment. Silver or foil is stamped against the die and the pieces are formed together to form a hollow shell, ready for filling with lakh.

In the series of photo's below you can see;

Craftsmen is putting a thin silver sheet over a brass die (which has the design engraved in it.
Craftsmen is softly molding the design onto the silver sheet by the use of cloth hammer untill the design comes on the silver sheet (both for front and back of the mould)
Craftsmen is showing the completed design on the silver sheet. The frame is now ready for further work

In this photo you can see the craftsmen applying Meena work to the pieces.

At this stage the pieces are very fragile as they are a simple silver shell and therefore must be handled with great care

In this next stage lac is filled into the silver frame. Notice the thin lac straw's on the right of this picture.

These are created by heating lac in a simple cauldron, then stretching and rolling the lac into tiny straws. These straws are then slowly put inside the tiny holes in the (heated) frame, which melts the lac to fill the inside of each piece and make it solid and give it strength (very much like strong wood in feel)

Each piece is washed and then a layer of polish is applied several times for the shine. Depending on the type of piece in development, the piece may be heated in order for stones or beads to be applied into the silver foil and Lakh. When heated slightly, the Lakh softens allowing stones or other objects to be fastened and secured.

Additional colours may be applied as well as detailed meena handiwork. Paints and dyes are chipped from solid blocks of enamel and mixed with water to create deep and lively natural colours.

Pieces can come in many colours such as Turquoise, Blue, Maroon, Red, Gold and many other bright and contrasting sets

In the final stages each piece is cleaned, polished and then the remaining work is performed. Usually by this stage each piece has passed through a number of villagers who specialise is each certain part of the work or sub projects to each piece. Lakh manufacture, beading, design, paint and other projects all contribute to the finished piece from other parts of the village.

In this final stage, these sub projects come together as the piece is tied and with beads or rope ties. Beads and stones are also introduced and the rest of the design is completed. In this photo you can see small wire works that are introduced to the piece and then subsequently tied off with chandeliers, beading or other ties.

The final pieces, once assembled are then measured, cleaned and dried.