A Sabera piece passes through eleven steps and several pairs of hands before it reaches a velvet box. One of those steps takes months. The rest, once it is done, take 5 to 7 days. This is the whole sequence, in order, as it happens in Jaipur.
The short version: drawn, modelled on a computer, turned into a die, cast in high-grade brass, filed and fitted by hand, polished, plated in pure silver or dye gold, then antiqued so the detail reads. Here is what each step actually involves.
Who makes it
We work with 8 to 10 karigars across specialised workshops in Jaipur. No single workshop does everything. The person who makes the die does not pour the brass, and neither of them does the plating. Each stage goes to the workshop that does that one thing well, and many of these karigars come from families three generations into the work.
So a piece moves. It leaves one bench finished at its stage and arrives at the next one ready for it.
Steps 1 to 4: before any brass is poured
1. Design. Every piece starts as a drawing. An elephant's posture, the curve of a lotus petal, how a tilak stick sits between the fingers. Use decides as much as looks do. A bottle stopper has to seat in a bottle neck. A napkin ring has to take a folded napkin without crushing it.
2. CAD. The drawing becomes a 3D model on a computer. Proportions are fixed here, and every surface detail is placed before anything physical exists.
3. CAM. The digital model is turned into a physical master by machine. It is the first time the piece can be held.
4. Die making. From the master comes the die, the mould every later piece is formed from. This is the slow step. Getting a die right takes months of trial and correction: an ear reshaped, a groove made shallower, another test, another look. Once the die is final, a finished piece takes 5 to 7 days.
Steps 5 and 6: wax, then brass
5. Wax model. The die produces a wax model, an exact copy of the piece in wax.
6. Casting. The wax gives way to molten high-grade brass, which takes its exact shape. This is where the weight comes from. Brass is why a Sabera piece feels heavier in the hand than it looks in a photograph, and why it is not hollow aluminium or resin with a silver finish sprayed on.
Steps 7 to 9: the hand work
7. Filing and hand fitting. A casting comes out rough, with seams and edges that need to go. A karigar files them away by hand. Where a piece is made of more than one part, the parts are fitted together by hand at this stage too.
8. Matting. Only pieces with a matte finish go through this step. The rest skip it.
9. Polishing and buffing. The surface is brought up until it is clean and even. Plating shows every flaw underneath it, so the brass has to be right before any silver goes near it.
Steps 10 and 11: silver, then shadow
10. Plating. Pure silver plating, applied by electroplating, or dye gold plating for the gold pieces. A Sabera piece is not sterling, not 925, not hallmarked and not solid silver. It is pure silver plating on a high-grade brass base. Why the layer is kept thin is a story of its own, told in why Sabera's silver plating is thin on purpose.
11. Antiquing. The last step darkens the recesses so the raised detail stands out. Without it, a silver piece reads as one flat bright surface. With it, you can see the petals.
The Lakshmi Ganesh Idol Set on Wooden Base shows this clearly. Look at the crowns and the lotus seats: the high points are bright, the folds between them are dark. That contrast is step 11. The set is Rs 2,150 and small enough to sit in one palm.
We heard you. Silver tarnishes in open air, so most pieces we make now are e-coated for extra shine. The e-coat is a thin protective lacquer over the finish. Keep an e-coated piece away from direct heat, and wipe it with a soft, dry cloth.
Before the velvet box
Every piece is inspected on its own before it is packed. Polish, plating weight, surface. Only then does it go into a velvet box.
Where to see the steps on a real piece
The Rajatkamal Tilak Stick with Ruby Accent, Rs 1,499, is a good place to start. The lotus head carries the casting detail from steps 5 and 6. The smooth stem is steps 7 and 9, filed and polished by hand. The rest of the range is in tilak sticks.
For antiquing at its clearest, look at the Horse Card Holder, Rs 3,399. The body is polished bright. The saddle cloth is patterned and darkened in its recesses, so the pattern reads from across a table. More in place card holders.
Why say any of this
Two pieces can look alike in a photograph and be nothing alike in the hand. The difference usually sits in three steps: a die refined over months, a casting in high-grade brass rather than resin, and hand filing that nobody sees but everyone can feel. Eleven steps is not a slogan. It is the list above.
For Diwali gifting, order by 31 October. Every piece arrives in a velvet box, and our gift boxes put several pieces together in one.
