Enamel Jewellery's Back to Brighten up Your Wardrobe
From Cloisonne vases and perfume bottles in Japan and China to Meenakari Jewellery from Persia and India, the enamel is known to add a maximalist personal touch to every form of decoration. Its contemporary pop arty edit is here to infuse colour in the modern minimalist wardrobe.
The era of hybrid fashion has arrived. Switch between bold and show-stopping, or elegant and graceful, cut the fuss with clean lines or add a touch of nostalgia to your repertoire. The new-age high jewellery has space for both minimalist and maximalist styles to shine, and right at the cusp of both of these styles stands modern enamel jewellery. Crafted with clean lines and bright popping neon colours, enamel jewellery is popularly known as the candy coating of the jewellery world. Although enamelling is in no way a new trend, its comeback in the jewellery world is a paradigm of a Phoenix rising brighter, more beautiful from its ashes.
Take A Cue From The Bygone Era
Think gorgeous Chinese and Japanese vases, snuff, and perfume bottles with Cloisonne enamelling, a technique that involves etching golden lines on the surface of a metal and filling each segment with enamel colours. Or picture jhumkas, bangles, trinket boxes, or even makeup and dry fruit cases with vivid red, green, and blue shades and elaborate Meenakari work invented in Persia and popularised in Rajasthan, India. Meenakari follows a technique similar to Cloisonne but has more vibrant hues. Enamelling has been used for decoration and adding a personalised emotional touch to pieces across the globe for ages.
Image Source: Britannica and Mirraw
It's evident that enamelling on jewellery was popularised through Meenakari which brings iterations of real-life objects like flowers, elephants, parrots and peacocks to jewellery, creating pieces that add a touch of tradition and vintage charm to your jewellery box. It makes baubles look as if they were plucked and transformed from a piece of a royal palace situated in the vast deserts of Rajasthan. The expansive barren deserts were again a reason why the most colourful forms of jewellery and handicraft came from the land.
How Maximalist Fashion Prompted The Growth Of Coloured Jewellery
Be it Schiaparelli’s introduction and popularisation of shocking pink in her colour palette during 1937 an era of toned-down palettes that symbolised the ongoing war, or the 1950s maximalism set off by the end of World War II and the need to express femininity and individuality to balance off the gloom caused by the decade of a simplistic and bare minimum wardrobe and bijoux. Maximalism in fashion and jewellery has been a mark of hope, resurgence and renewal.
In the 19880s, inspired by Indian maximalist traditions, especially those of the colourful crafts of Kutch in Gujarat and Rajasthan, the decade saw a wave of maximalist fashion and jewellery from the likes of Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Lacroix, and Versace. Of course, enamel with its concoction of vivid hues ruled the jewellery front. It was a time imbibed with motifs taken from Indian textiles and traditionally clashing shades. Maximalism embodies luxury, colours, and the idea that nothing is ‘too much’ it’s more.
Revival Of Enamel Jewellery
Image Source: Carat Lane Website
Enamel jewellery is making a remarkable resurgence in the pandemic-induced need for colours and attention-grabbing accessories amidst Zoom calls and Google meetings where people predominantly see just your face. So in a world where people spend hours scrolling through articles to figure out how to look good during video meetings, you can simply tap into the charm of the statement enamel pieces in your jewellery box.
However, everyone looking to invest in enamel jewellery shouldn’t miss out on the fact that contemporary enamel jewellery is drastically different from what you would find in your grandmother’s collection. It is a cleaner, sophisticated, and surprisingly more minimalistic take on the Meenakari tradition. Swathed in bright neon colours with minimal designs, and simple geometric patterns; it’s a playful pop-arty rendition of enamel jewellery that would work well with modern fuss-free wardrobe preferences.
Take Surat-based jewellery brand Elmas’s Birds of Paradise coloured jewellery collection for instance. Inspired by the eponymous flower from the tropical regions of Southeast Africa, the collection has been crafted especially for the street-style crowd and is ideal for adding a touch of adrenaline rush to a gloomy winter day or adding a vibrant piece that goes well with your equally vibrant summer wardrobe. Or Reevaj, another Surat-based jewellery brand’s collection of chunky enamel jewellery with more toned-down colours, is spot on for balancing a light or dark academia-style wardrobe. Or consider Caratlane’s enamel jewellery collection with à la mode butterfly or lotus motifs and shaded enamel hues.
Be it nature, traditional motifs, Y2K fashion, or an inherent need for dopamine-inducing colour, the classic enamel jewellery trend has secured its spot on the Instagram feeds of A-listers and couture shows of the season. Be it the Las Vegas Couture Show or Dua Lipa’s Instagram photos with quirky enamel rings, this joyful jewellery trend is here to rule hearts and wardrobes.