Our Story
Pashion was conceit on a trip in India, a culture full of color, happiness and an intense past. Pashion’s founder, fashion model Grecia Palomares, discovered the beauty of India’s crafts and fell in love with the country. Her years in modeling trained her eyes to recognize good taste and quality, and being a global photographer has sharpened her vision about life. India is not about perfection, it is about love and compassion, and that is what makes these pieces unique and different.
Jewelery in India
India jewelry had been made since the beginnings of the time and the laborious process is still using today. There is prove of some ancient Indian jewelry were found from the Indus Valley civilization. The initial jewelry was simple, made from beads, strings, and stones. Later on, people of the Indus Valley region learned to make ornaments and jewelry from metals.
The advent of the Mughals in the 16th century brought about innovations in jewelry use and design. They brought in the art and knowledge of jewelry engineering in the use of gems and metals. Also, the possession of precious metals and gems was restricted as it began to be used as a symbol of social status.
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Oxidised jewelry is made with a combination of pure silver and another metal to create an alloy in the ratio of 80 to 20. Silver gives the jewelry the pliability and the other metal brings down the cost of the piece. Oxidised jewelry comes in the trendiest of designs, right from traditional and tribal designs to chic and urbane ones which you can even wear to work.
Macramé is believed to have originated with 13th-century Arab weavers. These artisans knotted the excess thread and yarn along the edges of hand-loomed fabrics into decorative fringes on bath towels, shawls, and veils. The Spanish word macramé is derived from the Arabic migramah (مقرمة), believed to mean “striped towel”, “ornamental fringe” or “embroidered veil.” After the Moorish conquest, the art was taken to Spain, then to Italy, especially in the region of Liguria, and then spread through Europe. It was introduced into England at the court of Mary II in the late 17th century. Queen Mary taught the art of macramé to her ladies-in-waiting. Sailors made macramé objects in off hours while at sea, and sold or bartered them when they landed, thus spreading the art to places like China and the New World.
Making of Meena jewelry is a complicated and systematic process. The Chiterias first makes the design which if approved, goes to Gharia who makes initial skeleton of the piece called Ghat. This Ghat goes to Meenakar for further processing. The jewelry piece is kept on a lac stick and designs are engraved on it. This leads to creation of grooves which hold colour. Enamel dust of the required colour is then poured into the grooves. Each time the Meenakar can put only one color as each colour gets heated alone. The heat of the oven furnace melts the colour and the colored liquid gets equally spread into the grooves. Colours that are most heat-resistant are applied first as they are re-fired with each new colour. Once the last color is fired, the jewelry piece is allowed to cool and then burnished and polished. The depth of the grooves determines the play of the light. Silver and gold are usually used as the base for Meenakari jewelry. In case of silver, colours that are usually used are green, yellow or blue. For gold pieces, any colour can be used. The art has changed with time, according to the availability of materials, demand and artisans. The stunning bright colours which we see on Meenakari artifacts nowadays are metal oxides with fine powdered glass.
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Meenakari is the style or method of adding more artistic value to jewelry and is unique to India. The word ‘Meena’ stands for enamel and the word ‘Kari’ means art. There are two types of Meena Jewelry, Meena with Kundan and Meena without Kundan. Indian enameling work is different from those of France, England and Turkey. In Indian Meena Jewelry, enameling work is usually done on the backside of the ornaments and is known as ek posta meena. Sometimes it is in the front side too and then it is called do posta meena. It is believed that the art was introduced by Raja Mansingh of Amer who invited craftsmen from Lahore to practice it.
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