Hoysala Necklace

A rectangular grid of beadwork, strung between three focal gemstones with three teardrop drops hanging from the base. The form is borrowed from the layered goldsmithing tradition of Karnataka, India, where jewelers in Bangalore have been building tiered, geometric pieces for centuries. Translated into beadwork, the structure keeps the geometry and loses the mass. Fine, precise, and readable across a room.

The name is a direct reference. The Hoysala dynasty ruled Karnataka from roughly 1000 to 1400 AD, and the ornate stone-carved temples they built across the region, Belur, Halebidu, Somnathapura, are exercises in layered geometric repetition at architectural scale. The grid structure of this necklace points back to that same design logic: geometry as the load-bearing idea, repeated until it becomes something larger than its parts.

The grid sits at the collarbone. Three gemstone focal points anchor the horizontal structure, with the bead connections carrying the lateral load between them. Three teardrops descend from the base, one at each focal point, giving the piece its vertical finish without adding visual weight.

It is the piece for the days when a collar is too much and earrings are not enough. Wear it over a scoop neck or an open linen button-down, where the grid has room to read.

The name nods to the Hoysala dynasty (1000-1400 AD) and the ornate Hindu temple architecture they built across Karnataka,  the layered, geometric detail this piece points back to. It’s the piece for the days when a collar is too much and earrings aren’t enough. Wear yours with a scoop neck or an open linen button-down, where the grid has space to read.