Handmade Sari Bracelets

SILK SARI BRACELETS These Bracelets are Fairly Traded and Handmade. They are called "Silk Sari Bracelets" as in the past the thread from off cuts of sarees were used. Nowadays the operation is all the more professional. The dizzying lanes of Hot Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) provide our man in India with silk thread and plastic tubes which are two of the key elements in making the Silk Sari Bracelets. Once the materials have been purchased, small villages in the states of Orissa, Gujarat and Rajasthan are visited by our man. Here, groups of mainly women are employed typically for two weeks at a time making the bracelets. These villagers can often be seen working on their roof tops together as the day starts to cool down, it can be quite a social affair. The bracelets are made on beautiful old leather spinning wheels which are operated manually. The silk is spun from the main wheel to the small wheel on which protrudes a cylindrical metal rod. The artisan will place the now straight plastic tube on the rod and spin the wheel until the tube is covered in silk thread. The two ends are then bent and melted together with a simple flame. Once that has been done the gold "geri" is placed over the join and securely tied down with thread. One Silk Sari Bracelet completed. Once quality control has taken place which can take a very long time indeed then each bracelet is put on to a bubble wrap tube. More often than not they are then driven for many many hours in big tin containers on the back of a caravan of auto rickshaws. This is the beginning of the journey to England for the Silk Sari Bracelet.