Cover Enamelling is an ancient decorative technique that is now become a predominant art in high watchmaking and jewellery (Photo: courtesy of Jaeger-LeCoultre)
Enamelling is an ancient decorative technique that is now become a predominant art in high watchmaking and jewellery (Photo: courtesy of Jaeger-LeCoultre)
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From Cypriot gold rings to Swiss ateliers: enamelling, the art of fusing colour to metal, has travelled the world’s great trade routes for more than 3,000 years
In a sunlit Jaipur workshop, a master craftsman delicately wields a brush no wider than a hair, layering mineral pigments onto gold with near-microscopic precision. Hours later, this fragile artwork endures an 800-degree Celsius kiln—a crucible where the delicate alchemy between exactitude and chance decides whether colour blooms or fades. This interplay of control and chaos, science and artistry defines enamelling, an ancient technique with roots tracing back to the 13th century BC.
Enamelling was born in Cyprus, where Mycenaean goldsmiths created enamel rings featuring cloisonné—a decorative technique where coloured materials such as enamel are held in place by metal strips. It journeyed along the Silk Road east to Persia, India and China, and west, through Phoenician traders, to Europe and North Africa. Byzantine artisans between the 6th and 12th centuries elevated cloisonné to spiritual heights, crafting religious icons in miniature enamel medallions that encapsulated devotional narratives. These sacred objects fused faith with a craft that demanded immense skill and exacting patience. Indeed, many enamellers’ careers were cut short by the taxing nature of working with molten glass on precious metals, testing both eyesight and nerves, not to mention the kiln’s unforgiving heat.
Persia’s Safavid dynasty saw the evolution of the region’s own take on enamelling: minakari. Patterns blossomed with vivid blues and emeralds, evoking the sky—mina means “heaven”—and weaving floral motifs akin to miniature paintings onto mosque domes and sacred vessels. The craft’s spiritual symbolism travelled to India amid tense times. “It is believed that during the Mughal emperor Humayun’s forced exile in Persia [1540-1555], the art of what became known in Hindi as meenakari was brought to India,” says Alice Cicolini, a London-based designer whose work blends tradition and innovation. “I’ve always loved knowing that in Hindi meenakari also means ‘secret’—[suggesting] a conversation that only the wearer has with her jewellery.”
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Above Zoya Resonant Echoes Choker (Photo: courtesy of Zoya - a Tata Group brand)
Zoya Resonant Echoes Choker (Photo: courtesy of Zoya - a Tata Group brand)
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Enamelling’s devotional, sacred character is woven through many cultures. In the ancient Greek city of Byzantium, enamel icons channelled divine presence; Persian and Indian enamels adorned mosques and temples, invoking transcendence through colour. The act of layering enamel and subjecting it to transformative fire echoes spiritual purification and renewal. Cicolini is replicating that symbolism in her work. “The pichvvai [Rajasthani devotional painting] is a portable shrine, the story it tells commissioned by the priest, and illustrated across the canvas. What denotes it as sacred space is the red line around the edge of the work, and so I carried this concept into the jewellery to indicate that the craft and skill which is required is really what should be held as most sacred. Gold, of course, carries its own sacred connotations, as does the energetic power of stones, but I find for me it is the dedication of the craftsman to a lifetime of unfolding exploration that is the true energy that jewellery carries.”
She extends the metaphors by describing the work of her Indian master craftsman Kamal Assat as his devotion to God. “It speaks to me of the innate human desire to communicate beauty through objects, to tell the story of the inherent miracles of nature and preserve them for generations.
Above Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso One Precious Flowers (Photo: courtesy of Jaeger-LeCoultre)
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso One Precious Flowers (Photo: courtesy of Jaeger-LeCoultre)
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“I think what is so fascinating for me in enamel is that it’s one of the only techniques in jewellery making that has the capacity to communicate rich, painterly narratives,” Cicolini says. “As a craft, it tells a hugely important story about the flow of ideas, craftsmen and techniques across vast landscapes. Allied to its close cousin ceramics, the craftsmen that evolved the enamel story moved with wealthy patrons, as their products travelled back and forth across established trade routes through Europe into Ottoman Turkey, northern Africa, the Middle East, India, China and Japan. Motifs from China appear on Iranian glassware, reports abound in Rome of barbarian Celts decorated in coloured brass, and so on.”
In China, cloisonné enamelling flourished during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912) dynasties, adorning imperial treasures with symbolic motifs. Europe’s enamelling story features Celtic and medieval champlevé traditions, which evolved into the Georgian era’s guilloché enamels that played with light and texture. This playfulness peaked with Fabergé’s enamel eggs—luxurious marvels where layers of translucent enamel created a jewel-like effect, and married artistry and aristocratic symbolism.
Jaeger-LeCoultre, renowned for its mastery in enamel craftsmanship, has a heritage of creating enamel pocket watches that dates back to the 1880s. Lionel Favre, the maison’s product design director, gives the example of “a translucent blue enamel watch adorned with a diamond-set floral motif around the back, a detailed royal-blue dial, and gold hands accented with brilliant diamonds. Another notable piece is the 1885 red enamel pocket watch: its pendant case features a chiselled back with translucent red enamel and floral motifs, a marine anchor set with diamonds, and a bezel and caseback elegantly set with 88 pearls.” The 1931 Reverso epitomises the harmony of form and function, with its reversible case safeguarding the dial while presenting a detailed enamel caseback that unites practicality with artistic expression.
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Above Zoya Drops of Divinity Earrings (Photo: courtesy of Zoya - a Tata Group brand)
Zoya Drops of Divinity Earrings (Photo: courtesy of Zoya - a Tata Group brand)
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Favre highlights the 1936 Reverso Beauté Indienne, featuring a miniature enamel painting inspired by Indian art and commissioned by a maharaja: “The portrait is believed to depict the maharani of an Indian state, though her exact identity remains unconfirmed.” This work exemplifies enamel’s role as a bearer of cultural narratives through technique and design, transcending mere ornament.” He adds that it ranks among the manufacture’s very first enamel creations using the micro-painting technique, preceding the era of enamel on guilloché.” The micro-painting technique involves applying enamel with extreme precision to create highly detailed miniature scenes or portraits. This process requires remarkable skill, as artists use fine brushes and magnification to paint layers of coloured enamel onto the surface. The enamel is then fired repeatedly at high temperatures to fuse the glassy layers, allowing the depiction of intricate details and subtle shading that bring the miniature to life with vividness and depth.
Above Métiers d’art at Vacheron Constantin (Photo: courtesy of Vacheron Constantin)
Métiers d’art at Vacheron Constantin (Photo: courtesy of Vacheron Constantin)
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In India, Revathi Kant, chief design officer at Titan Company, which includes jewellery brand Tanishq and luxury division Zoya, underscores enamel’s permanence and cultural resonance. “If you look at any [vintage] jewellery and watches, you will find that hint of enamel there. The material itself is highly durable; it lasts generations. It might chip off accidentally, but the material, and the method of enamelling itself, ensures that the jewellery piece is preserved for generations to come; it is protected from UV damage; it’s scratch resistant. This combination of artistry [with] the permanence is very important. That’s what has made this technique live for so long.”
Zoya champions karigar centres, which empower artisans to sustain their craft in rapidly modernising economies. Kant is passionate about preserving endangered techniques like the gulabi meenakari of Banaras, a rare pink enamel style crafted by a few remaining specialists. “We have to really go and search for ones who can do such beautiful work.”
Above Fabergé 18-karat yellow gold red guilloché enamel egg objet with wild strawberry surprise (Photo: courtesy of Fabergé)
Fabergé 18-karat yellow gold red guilloché enamel egg objet with wild strawberry surprise (Photo: courtesy of Fabergé)
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Enamelling techniques vary: cloisonné wires cage colours; champlevé carves recesses in which colour sits; meenakari engraves patterns beneath glassy surfaces; paillonné embeds gold foil beneath transparent enamel, adding shimmering depth, as seen in Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Shahnameh series and Vacheron Constantin’s Métiers d’Art series. Meanwhile, plique-à-jour, or “open to light”, enamel, fashioned without backing, creates a stained-glass luminosity prized by art nouveau masters like Fabergé and Tiffany Studios.
Collaborations are fuelling enamel’s contemporary resurgence. Cicolini’s jewellery draws inspiration from 18th-century French-Belgian explorer Alexandra David-Néel, famous for travelling to Tibet when entry was forbidden to foreigners; the pieces layer architectural motifs and delicate cherry blossoms, reimagining traditional jhumka earring for the modern consumer. Her enamel master, Stanislav Reymer, pushes boundaries with lacquer enamel’s durability and range of colours, enabling vibrant Pantone shades and new artistic possibilities. Meanwhile, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Métiers Rares Atelier merges the skills of enamellers, engravers and guilloché artists to create celestial effects, like the starry night sky on the Reverso Tribute Nonantième Enamel.
“Collectors today increasingly value the métiers d’art not only for their beauty, but also because they have such a deep respect for the hours spent on each timepiece,” Favre says. “As a technique that demands time, patience and meticulous attention, enamelling inherently restricts production, making each creation a rare statement for collectors. Equally important is the preservation and transmission of savoir-faire— enamelling is an endangered art, and its survival depends on training new generations.”
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As the Regional Editor for Watches and Jewellery and Editorial Content Lead for Tatler GMT, Amrita Katara specialises in luxury watch and jewellery coverage across Asia, with expertise in editorial strategy, feature writing and interviews with industry leaders. Her past roles span luxury lifestyle media and client partnerships. Based in Mumbai, Amrita’s work bridges global trends and Asian market insights.
