Manasvi has always loved glass bangles — their color, their gentle sound, the way you can play with their layering. But when we wanted to make them at Surmeyi, we knew we had to find the right karigars and let craft lead the way this time. People who’ve shaped glass with their own hands for generations, who know exactly how far the material can stretch. Because in a space like that, where real craft holds the center, our role becomes simple: to listen, to be curious, to co-create.
That led us to Firozabad, the city of glass. A place where the streets are dotted with furnaces and artisans who’ve worked with molten glass for generations. There, we met the karigars who showed us something extraordinary: silver fuming.
The Process
Silver fuming is an uncommon technique. A small piece of pure silver (99.9%) is held near the flame while the glass is still molten. Under intense heat, the silver vaporizes and begins to travel, a fine mist of metal carried by the fire itself.
As the molten glass turns and breathes, this vapor settles on its surface, forming soft, iridescent clouds. No two bangles ever look the same. The colors emerge — sometimes hints of pink, sometimes blue, sometimes a faint golden haze — depending on the dance between flame, temperature, and timing. It’s unpredictable, but that’s what makes it beautiful. Each piece feels like a trace left behind by light, as if the glass remembers the fire.
Every batch comes out different. Sometimes the silver settles thick, sometimes barely at all. It takes patience and a lot of letting go to understand that the fire decides. The karigars often say that glass teaches you humility. It cracks if you force it. It flows only when you listen.
In that way, these bangles are a small collaboration between our intent and the element’s will — between the karigars, the glass, the silver and the fire.
The Meaning
At Surmeyi, we’ve always wanted to make meaning with the objects we create. When we tried to apply silver fuming to a clear and deep base glass, it reminded us of the sky. Much like how every dawn and every dusk is different, these bangles were different too.
Moreover, across so many cultures, dawn and dusk have always held spiritual significance. Dawn carries the feeling of morning light slowly blooming across the sky. Dusk holds the calming warmth of a sun that’s about to rest. Both are fleeting, both sacred in their own way — times when the world feels a little more vulnerable, a little more alive.
And that’s how Dawn and Dusk were born.
