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| Twenty-two Kt. gold and silver box encrusted with polki-cut diamonds. Every side of the box, including the inside of the lid and the bottom of the box is decorated with diamonds in floral motifs and different animals (elephant, deer, peacock and parrot). |
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In 2008, the Israeli Diamond Industry will be focusing its attention on India. This development comes in the wake of the Israel Diamond Institute’s definition of cooperation between the Israeli Diamond Industry and the Indian jewelry industry as one of its strategic targets for 2008.
The volume of diamond exports from Israel to India in 2007 reached $108,467,000, four times the volume recorded in the previous year. Export of rough from Israel to India in 2007 came to $760,420,000, double the volume in 2006. Import of polished diamonds from India in 2007 came to $1,082,366,000, while in the previous year import of polished diamonds was $799,570,000.
The links between the Israeli Diamond Industry and the Indian Diamond Ministry are gaining momentum. The Israeli Diamond Industry, which served as a pioneer in this area, now strives to connect Israeli diamond manufacturers with Indian diamond manufacturers. Other areas where cooperation exists between Israeli manufacturers and their Indian counterparts are hi-tech, armaments, optics and agriculture.
An Israeli tourist first encountering jewelry made in India may sense a feeling of familiarity or even nostalgia. Typical Indian jewelry – both gold items richly embedded with diamonds and gemstones as well as silver jewelry of which the Israeli backpacker in India is so fond – look both familiar and friendly, almost like a family heirloom passed down from one generation to the next. Often, an Israeli gazing at Indian jewelry will view them the same way that he regards Israeli jewelry.
What is the source of this sense of familiarity and affinity?
The renewal of the Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel in 1903 inspired a Zionist Congress resolution to establish the Bezalel School of Art in Jerusalem. The School, which was named after the craftsman of the Holy Tabernacle, Bezalel Ben Uri, opened in 1906 in Jerusalem. In keeping with the atmosphere of revival and regeneration of the Jewish community in the Land of Israel, the Bezalel School of Art strived to create a new Israeli form of art.
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| Twenty-two Kt gold, parab cut diamonds, cabochon rubies set on silver foil and pearls form these traditional long earrings. Each earring is fringed with guttapusal - bunches of small pearls tied together. |
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The new art in the Land of Israel did not grow in a vacuum. Its roots were embedded in the local culture, mainly in the culture of the desert nomad, which in the artist’s eye constituted an antique pattern for the new Jew. The craftsmanship, knowledge, skills and traditional models, which jewelry makers brought with them from Yemen, served as ready tools for the new art. This craftsmanship served as the primary foundation for jewelry from the Holy Land.
After the state was established, “Maskit” sought to preserve and develop jewelry craftsmanship which was arriving in the country. From 1954, the year when Maskit was established by Ruth Dayan, the company worked to mold an Israeli style based on the heritage of previous generations and artifacts that new immigrants created in their lands of origin. This preservation was not intended to commemorate these artifacts but rather to try and create a new, popular Israeli art. As this trend of development and preservation was also generated by various social goals, mainly the provision of work places to the peripheral areas, the greatest effort was made to preserve art arriving from the Islamic countries.
The jewelry of Arab desert nomads and Muslim merchants, which made its way to India during the centuries when Arab merchants controlled commerce in the Peninsula, also left its mark on traditional Indian design. This is the source of the similarity between the jewelry from the desert, Yemenite jewelry and Indian jewelry.
Indian princes and rulers, who viewed jewelry as an important reflection of power and strength, often brought craftsmen from countries where the Islamic influence prevailed. These jewelers helped to build the infrastructure for Indian jewelry with which we are familiar today.
This is what awakens that unexplained feeling of familiarity, fondness and even affinity felt towards Indian jewelry.
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| Eighteen Kt gold, silver, diamonds and emerald form a long semi-traditional earrings in the shape of sunflower. Gold wire mesh with floral motifs in reverse side. The earrings are fringed with a border of emerald drilled drops. |
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When I asked Mr. Vasant Mehta, Deputy Chairman of The Gem and Jewelry Export Promotion Council, what kind of contribution cooperation between an Indian jewelry manufacturer and an Israeli jewelry manufacturer can make, he replied: “Since the sixties, Indian diamantaires have purchased rough diamonds in Israel, mainly rough diamonds that are not economically viable for manufacture in Israel. The advantage for the Indian diamantaires was and remains the acquisition of additional suppliers for popular merchandise at competitive prices. Recently, since the import of polished diamonds to India has become tax free, many Indian diamantaires have begun acquiring polished diamonds in Israel as well. This fact enables Indian diamantaires to meet their needs for large stones without restrictions.”
Mehta emphasized: “The Israeli industry has an exceptional network for marketing diamonds. Indian jewelers can be added to the network to increase profitability. In addition, Israelis can establish partnerships for the manufacture of jewelry with Indian jewelers.”
At a time when the Indian jewelry industry is moving from traditional manual labor to more modern practices, when ethnic design is often replaced by Western designs, and at a stage when this industry regards the export of embedded gold jewelry to Western markets as one of its main targets, it would appear that cooperation with Israeli diamantaires is one of the keys to the promotion of this industry.
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| Eighteen Kt. gold, silver, muklassi cut diamonds and pearls in a choker (guluband). Straight long diamond-set dangles form a spreading triangle shape. |
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The Israeli Diamond Industry is able to ensure the regular provision of large amounts of diamonds which will enable smooth and continuous work at the large jewelry factories in India. The supply of diamonds from Israel will enable the implementation of sophisticated methods in the manufacture of modern jewelry according to international standards.
In recent years we have witnessed a growing influx of Israeli and Indian diamantaires that spend more and more time at each other’s diamond centers. Cooperation between Israeli diamantaires and Indian jewelry manufacturers will undoubtedly enrich the traditional Indian jewelry with high-quality diamonds from Israel and it will also provide diamantaires interested in becoming part of the jewelry manufacture market with access to the jewelry branch of one of the world’s largest consumers and exporters of jewelry.
The Big House in India
By Antonio Alvarez ( c. 1626 (
Translation by Yehuda Kassif
The big house in India,
Crowded with craftsmen and shelves,
Storage rooms within narrow cabins
Bales and bundles of cinnamon.
So many oriental balms and drugs
So many quantities of pepper!
Sacks of flour, piles of cloves,
Precious stones all around.
Round bales of rice dry plants
Shellfish and savage shouts
Of African merchants
With their curly twisted hair.
Bright and white ivory
Canine teeth of beasts
All those heavy jaws -
Each weighing five times more.
Muslin, bedspreads, carpets
Pieces of various silk
Amber, corals and spices,
Nuts, incense and white pearls.
A choice of Chinese earrings,
Desks and drawers,
Thousands of arts and crafts
Counters over tables.
