Silver Anklets — Payal with Bells

Measure around the ankle bone and add 20 millimetres. The anklet must sit loose — too tight and it hurts, and it will not ring either.

Heat 16 gauge silver wire in dim light until it glows dull red — 600 to 650 degrees. Let it air-cool for ten seconds, then quench in water.

Dropping silver into water while it is still red will crack it. Only quench after it has cooled a little.

One part citric acid to five parts water. Leave it in for five minutes. The black layer from the heating comes away.

Cut 8 millimetre discs from silver sheet and dome them in a dapping block. Two per bell.

Place a small steel ball in one hemisphere. This is what strikes the inside and makes the sound.

Before joining the two hemispheres, cut a narrow slot in one. A closed bell does not ring — the slot is essential for the sound to escape.

Join the hemispheres with silver solder. Work at low heat — too much and the bell melts.

Make twelve bells the same way. Each will ring slightly differently, and that is good. If they all sound identical the effect is flat.

Bend the wire into a circle. Fit a hook and ring so it opens. It cannot be slipped over the foot, so opening is necessary.

Attach the bells to the wire at equal spacing with small silver rings. If they bunch in one place the weight falls to one side and the anklet twists round.

Put it on and walk. Every step should ring. If it does not, a bell is tied too tightly — loosen its ring a little.

Why silver and not gold. In many parts of India there is a custom that gold is worn above the waist and silver below. That is why foot ornaments are almost always silver. Different regions give different reasons for it, so it would be wrong to state one cause as certain. The custom itself, however, is widespread.

The sound is the point. A belled anklet is not only decoration. The sound while walking tells the household where someone is. Some say the intention was that a new daughter-in-law's movements should be audible; for children the reason is plainly this — if you can hear the bells, you know where the child is.

No slot, no sound. Step seven matters a great deal. In a completely closed sphere the ball strikes but the sound does not get out. Only with the slot can the air vibrate and the note be heard. Every bell in the world works on this principle.

Why silver rings well. Among metals, silver holds a vibration for an unusually long time. That is why bells and small bells made of silver sound clear and sustain. Ornament, custom and physics all point the same way.

Very old. Foot ornaments appear in sculpture from the time of the Indus civilisation. The form and the way they are worn have changed little over the centuries — because the problem has not changed: soft against the ankle, must ring, must not corrode.