Alice Cicolini is a British jewelry designer inspired by Indian designs and using the Meenakari traditions. She had been Director Arts & Culture for the British Council in India. She used the sacred architecture and patterns of the Silk Route as an inpiration for her jewelry. All the jewels are handmade in India ; the studio of Kamal Kumar Meenakar uses the meenakari enameling traditions. The jewels are real pieces of art : patterns are engraved into 23.5 carat gold to the reverse of the jewels and colored with enamel. The jewels are decorated with gemstones.
Alice Cicolini’s work pays a tribute to the Meenakari jewelry. “Enameling or Meenakari is the art of colorings or decorating a metal surface by attaching or fusing pieces of different mineral substances, over it.” “Enamel is a combination of ground, pigmented glass and metal, heat fired into the recesses created by the engraving and then polished with agate stone.” “More commonly, enamel is applied to the reverse of jewels, where the precious stones such as diamonds, sapphires, rubies and emeralds are privileged at the forefront.”
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