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Comments

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  Isabel Iglesias June 16, 2011 at 2:12pm

  They are really nice!! Never mind what your friend Krishna has told you...Never seen something similar!
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  Toya June 16, 2011 at 6:38pm

  The design is very intricate, complicated, and well planned, yet maintains a realistic sculptural flow. Obviously a master craftsman and artist created these. Notice the way the pattern is barely interrupted by the breaks for the hinge and pin. Brilliant! I know nothing about age, but these are a masterpiece.
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  Ethnic Embellishments June 16, 2011 at 6:48pm

  From my experience, Indian jewelry of this size would have been worn everyday.  I'd look for wear patterns to help determine age.  The workmanship is lovely and the silver appears to be very high grade.  Are there any stamps at all?  I'm in agreement with you, Ayis; I do doubt the age.  I have a vintage silver bead from India that has similar work; I'll try to post a photo soon for comparison.
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  Alaa eddine SAGID June 16, 2011 at 11:46pm

  Indeed the work is brilliant and very intricate, no doubt a very skilled silversmith made them.....as said Toya, the flow is not broken and the chasing is breathtaking and flawless.

   

  Yet ,like you Hillary, i was disturbed by the total absence of any wear patterns to confirm an early age!! It was a major concern wich at first deterred from purchasing them,  the seller explained it by the fact that these bracelets were rather treasured by their former owner, only wearing them in very special occasions; an argument i could understand seeing the elaborate designs.

   

  The silver is very high grade and there was no similar ethnic piece available in the market then.

   

  Warmest wishes to ya all
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  Ethnic Embellishments June 17, 2011 at 12:07am

  Yes, that is the one catch to guessing age, whether or not a piece was worn daily or only on festive occasions.
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  Cam Knuckey June 19, 2011 at 2:19pm

  age is hard to tell, we've supposedly had antique wedding pieces but I found it hard to believe as there were no signs of wear. It's said they were put away and kept unworn, which makes it terribly difficult to judge. These don't look that old but who knows, I look for wear particularly where there is movement, the screw, links etc. But I too must say they are really nice pieces.
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  Joost Daalder June 23, 2011 at 10:00pm

  Most probably Indian, yes - but I'd say from the photo that they are brand new. I find the black paste (clearly artificial) unpleasant, and you'd expect that on Miao pieces (where, incidentially, you also find fish of this kind!), but I do think they are most likely Indian. Very wearable; well made for what they are; but I'd wear them rather than see them as in any way collector's items.
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  Alaa eddine SAGID June 24, 2011 at 2:17am

  What stroke me the most and eventually made me buy them is that they are hand made and hand cisheled because the fishes are all different from one another and the whole pattern is flawless without any break of the design on the hinge system...overall very high quality work and even if it might be newlymade i couldn' find any new jewellery on the market as beautifully made as these bracelets.

  They are indeed very wearable and the fishes round is just so poetic

   

  thanx everyone for your precious insights
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  Joost Daalder June 24, 2011 at 2:51am

  Ayis: there is NOTHING wrong with these technically, or for that matter aesthetically. The fact is that India still has excellent silversmiths, so from that point of view one could quite readily argue there is no reason for not buying pieces of this kind. The Miao, too, still do make excellent pieces, right now, the only really worrying thing being that their taste is deteriorating rapidly (and more of their production is becoming machine-made). I think that in India that kind of deterioration is less the case, as there the jewellers there are traditionalists, through and through, so that you are likely to get, in essence, a classical piece which just happens to be recent. And that is what happened! I would not worry about owning them. Their intrinsic quality will not decline, and indeed over time they will develop some patina!
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  Giovanna Castelli August 8, 2011 at 1:10pm

  I have same bracelets, bought in the same place I think from the same Krishna in my last trip to India !!

  I hope this only means the owner wore 2 on one hand and 2 on the other !

  I don't think however they are new: I think old and not much worn. I don't have them here at the moment since I'm on holiday but in 2 days when I'm back in Milano I'll photograph them and publish them so the discussion can go on....