Minankari: Jewelery Art in Georgia

Jewelry art in Georgia is original and unique. The clean azure of the sky and the emerald of grass, the gold of the sun and the purple of tart wine: all these colors are in perfect harmony intertwined in jewelry, made according to the ancient Georgian enamel technique called minankari. Today we will tell you the history of the emergence and development of this branch of jewelry art, which is actively developing today, pleasing us with exquisite ornaments.

The technique of minankari is a laborious and painstaking process that cannot be mechanized. And this means that it is almost impossible to find two identical ornaments. Each product is a unique hand-made work. It is also worth mentioning that minankari enamel is used only in conjunction with noble metals: gold and silver. With other metals, the enamel “is not friendly”, changes its color and does not stick to the base. Firs, the craftsman gets the desired pattern of fine silver thread-partition, and then glues to the base with glassy minankari and finally fills the colored enamel. Then the product is sent into the oven. Enamel, like many centuries ago, is obtained from natural mineral stones.