The Ancient Art of Dhokra: Inside MIHARU's Lost-Wax Necklaces
A 4,000-year-old casting technique, still practiced by hand, one mould at a time.
Most jewelry today is stamped, poured into reusable moulds, or cast by the thousand in a single production run. Dhokra works the opposite way. Every MIHARU necklace starts as a one-time clay and wax model that's destroyed in the process of making it — which means the mould can never be reused, and no two pieces that ever come out of it are quite identical. It's one of the oldest continuously practiced metal casting techniques in the world, and it's still being done almost exactly the way it was 4,000 years ago.
What Dhokra Actually Is
Dhokra is a lost-wax metal casting technique practiced by artisan communities across West Bengal and Jharkhand, among other regions of eastern and central India. The name comes from the Dhokra Damar tribes traditionally associated with the craft. It belongs to a family of casting methods used across many ancient cultures, but Dhokra's continuous, unbroken practice in India — largely unchanged in method for millennia — is what makes it particularly notable.
How a Piece Actually Gets Made
The process starts with a core, usually a mixture of clay and rice husk, shaped roughly into the form of the final piece. Over that core, the artisan builds up a layer of fine wax threads or sheets, worked entirely by hand into the pattern that will become the necklace's visible surface — the geometric lines, florals, or figures that give each design its character. That wax layer is then coated in layers of clay, left to dry, and fired. As it heats, the wax melts and drains out through a channel left for exactly that purpose — this is the "lost wax" the technique is named for. Molten brass is poured into the empty space the wax left behind, left to cool, and the clay mould is then broken away completely to reveal the cast piece underneath.
That last step is why no two Dhokra pieces are ever identical, even when they're meant to be a matching pair or part of the same design line. The mould existed for one casting only. Any variation in how the wax was laid, how evenly the metal filled the mould, or how the piece cooled becomes a permanent, one-off part of that specific necklace.
The MIHARU Necklaces
Each piece below is hand cast using this exact process, finished in a warm gold tone, and sized differently depending on the design — from an 11-inch pendant chain to a dramatic 42-inch statement length.
Living With a Hand Cast Piece
- Protect: Keep away from perfumes, sprays, and moisture.
- Store: Keep in its soft pouch or an airtight box when not in use.
- Clean: Wipe gently with a soft cotton cloth after every wear.
- Restore: If the brass deepens in tone over time, polish lightly with a mild brass cleaner to bring back its original shine.
The Takeaway
A Dhokra necklace isn't trying to look identical to the one before it or the one after it — the technique makes that structurally impossible. What you're buying is a specific casting, from a mould that existed once, made by hand using a method that predates recorded history in the region. That's a fairly rare thing to be able to say about a piece of jewelry.
Explore the full MIHARU Dhokra collection.
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